Throughout It All
by dancingthroughrain
Summary: A place where I put all of my Vaniro oneshots. Title may change later on. Please review! NEW CHAPTER: 'New Author's Note' Requests open and highly needed!
1. In Need of Comfort

***Reposted to this story in order to keep all of my oneshots together. c:***

 **A/N: Because it's not an official ship until one of them has a nightmare and is comforted by the other.**

 **Wooooow, it's been quite some time since I've posted something on here, huh?**

 **In this fic, Van's 18 and Hiro's 19; I feel like that's a reasonable age. They don't live together, but I feel like they would spend the night at each other's houses a lot. I feel like their guardians would trust them to be responsible, y'know?**

 **My writing may be a little rusty, but here you go, nonetheless! c:**

 **This was also posted here (just take away the spaces): hamada-sisters . tumblr tagged / fanfic**

* * *

It wasn't like Vanellope had never experienced a nightmare before. She'd had nightmares many, many times, but it'd been a while since she'd had one. Ever since she'd gotten used to spending the night with Hiro, her nightmares had gotten more rare. She'd become accustomed to having Hiro right next to her when she slept.

That night, however, Hiro had been working late on a project in the garage. Vanellope didn't mind and thankfully she was able to fall asleep without him.

She really regretted falling asleep.

It had been so long since she'd dreamed about it. About her parents' passing, about her living in that dumb orphanage until she was adopted*. Except in her dreams, her parents' deaths always happened in different ways. Her dream this night had been so vague, had happened so fast, yet it still managed to frighten her to tears. And she _never_ cried.

She awoke with a start - her hazel eyes were wide and glossy and her chest rising up and down quickly with every rapid breath she took. Quickly, she pushed herself up into a sitting position and looked around her to regain her senses.

Right. She was in Hiro's room. She was fine. It was just a dream.

 _It was just a dream._

The ravenette felt tears on her cheek and she quickly wiped them away but to no avail. She couldn't stop the tears from falling or steady her breathing.

She was scared.

God, she was a wimp. There she was, eighteen-years-old and crying over a nightmare.

A shaky sigh of defeat escaped past her lips and she let her head fall onto her hands.

She hated this. Why was she acting like such a _baby?_ Could she really not go one night alone without having a nightmare? Was she really _crying_ over a nightmare?

Suddenly she felt a sink in the mattress and something around her shoulders. Her head shot up and she was about to jump off the bed, but the arm around her shoulders kept her seated.

"Van, it's just me."

Came a husky, yet familiar voice. Great. As if crying over a dumb dream wasn't embarrassing enough.

"Oh my God -" Vanellope made no hesitation in punching Hiro on the arm. "You scared me! Don't do that again!"

Hiro held his free hand up in defense. "Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to! You just looked upset." he claimed and rubbed the spot on his arm where he'd been punched.

At that, Vanellope wiped at her tears again and looked down, followed by her crossing her arms. "I thought you were working downstairs." she mumbled quietly.

"I was, but I decided to call it a night. Even geniuses need their rest, y'know."

His smiled faltered when his attempt to brighten the mood was ignored. Hiro tilted his head to the side and leaned down so that he was in Vanellope's line of vision. "You looked upset." he repeated.

"'m fine."

"You don't look fine."

"I said I'm fine, Hiro!"

Hiro was a little taken back by her sudden outburst, but he recovered quickly. It wasn't unlike her to do that when she was upset. He tried to regain eye contact with her, but Vanellope was looking off to the side trying to _avoid_ eye contact. _Don't start crying again_ , she mentally reminded herself, _don't start crying_.

"...You don't have to tell me what's wrong," Hiro began and gently cupped the side of his girlfriend's face with his hand and move her head so she was at least facing him. "but don't tell me you're okay when you're obviously not."

Vanellope continued to avoid eye contact and bit her lip to hide the fact that it was wavering. She refused to start crying again.

"You don't have to always be happy and act like everything's okay." he continued. "It's okay to be sad sometimes."

Vanellope made a few attempts to speak, but she just couldn't find the right words. She sniffled and took a deep breath instead.

Hiro hated seeing Vanellope in this state. It was so unlike her. She was usually sassy and sarcastic or bubbly and laughing. Seeing her wearing anything but a smile on her face was just... _weird_ to him. Seeing her smile always made him smile. Hearing her contagious, joyous laughter always made him laugh. Seeing her frown and eyes filled with crocodile tears had the same affect on him.

He couldn't bare seeing her so upset, so helpless. He gently pulled her into a hug, to which she gratefully returned. Her breathing returned to normal, give or take a few deep breaths or hiccups here and there. Hiro ran his hand through her long, raven hair, a habit he had grown into not too long ago. It was a soothing, loving gesture that Vanellope didn't mind, only with Hiro, though. She was very picky when it came to showing her affection to others, but with Hiro she wasn't too bothered with it.

Somehow, they eventually ended up laying down. Hiro found himself wide awake, though. He didn't mind staying awake; listening to Vanellope's even breathing and just holding her close was just fine with him. He thought that Vanellope had drifted off some time ago, but he was clearly mistaken when he heard her speak.

"I love you."

* * *

 *** I think that Van's parents passed away when she was very young, thus she had no other family to go to and was put in an orphanage. When she was 9, she got to leave that horrid orphanage because she was adopted by Ralph. That's just how I see it, but if you don't, hey, that's cool, too!**

 **Anyways, sorry if that seemed OOC. I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless! Thanks so much for reading!**


	2. She Was Right

***Reposted to this story in order to keep all of my oneshots together. c:***

 **A/N: So! This begins with a flashback to when they were kids, then to when they're older and it's a week before their wedding, then it's their wedding from various points of view!**

 **Also I kept Tadashi alive in this because hAHAHA WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE ISN'T ALIVE IN CANON**

 **This was also posted on tumblr; the link to it is in the author's note at the very bottom!**

 **Thanks for the request, anon! I hope you like it! c:**

* * *

It isn't uncommon for Vanellope to be at the Lucky Cat Cafe early in the morning before it opens. In fact, it's be uncommon for her to _not_ be there. Although they had gotten off of the wrong foot at first, Vanellope and Hiro grew closer as time passed on. Her guardian/adoptive father, Ralph, eventually began to drop her off at the cafe on his way to work. He trusts Cass a lot more than he trusts some random daycare or camp out there. Plus, Vanellope's happy that she gets to spend time with Hiro all the time now that they're close friends. It's a win-win situation.

The two children sit at one of the tables in the cafe, coloring while they wait for opening time.

"I bet I'm a better draw-er than you!" Vanellope kneels on the chair she's on and smirks at Hiro. She can be pretty competitive.

Hiro raises an eyebrow. " _You_ ," he points at her, then himself, "better than _me?_ Ha! You're on!"

Hiro choses a light blue-grey and gets to work on his robot that he's positive will turn out better than whatever Vanellope's drawing.

The ravenette smirkes. "Yeah, we'll see about that.

She pauses - what the heck was she going to draw? She looks around the cafe to see if there is anything for her to draw. Tables are too boring. All of the sweets on display will make her too hungry. There are a lot of things on the wall, but nothing really catches her interest.

Suddenly she feels something soft rubbing against her arm. Looking at the source of the softness, she finds the Hamada's cat, Mochi.

...That's it! She can draw Mochi! Her grin returns to her face and she looks over at the cat who then decides to sit on a clear spot on the table. She makes sure to cover up her drawing with her free arm so that no one (specifically Hiro) will be able to see it until she finishes.

"Aaaand… done!" Vanellope declares proudly when she completed her drawing. "And I'm pretty sure I've got ya beat!"

Hiro looks up from his drawing. He's almost done, just has to finish the left boot. "There's no way! Nothing's cooler than robots, everyone knows that." He holds up his finished drawing, "Look!"

The girl scans over his drawing for a moment before she speaks. "Yeah, that's kinda cool, I guess." she holds up her own work of art. "But check mine out! It's got more detail than yours, so it looks better."

"What? No way! I mean yeah, Mochi's probably the best cat in the world, but robots are like ten times better than cats. No, I think my drawing wins."

"Nu-uh!"

"Yeah-huh!"

"Nu-uh!"

"Yeah!"

"Fine! We'll let somebody else decide!"

"AUNT CAAAASS! VANELLOPE AND I NEED YOU RIGHT NOW, IT'S REALLY, REALLY, REALLY IMPORTANT!"

Practically seconds after Hiro's yells, his Aunt rushes to their sides, despite the fact that she still has to finish baking and setting up the displays.

"What's wrong? Did something bad happen? What is it?"

The two kids hold their drawings up for Cass to see.

"We wanna know who's drawing is better!" Vanellope exclaims. "I mean, it's obviously mine, but Hiro just won't accept it! Could ya try and break the news to him?

"What?! Nu-uh! It's the other way around!"

Suddenly, Cass bursts into laughter.

Vanellope pouts. "What's so funny?"

"Our drawings aren't that bad!" says Hiro.

Cass catches her breath and ruffles their hair. "You two are just so cute. I thought you were in trouble!" she looks at the drawings, now on the table. "Hm… I'd call it a tie."

"WHAT?!" Vanellope squeals.

Hiro just shakes his head and frowns. "Nu-uh, ties don't count!"

"Sorry, sweetie, but I can't choose. Why's it matter, anyways? What does the winner get?"

Both children pause and look at each other. They didn't discuss that part…

"'Dunno."

"How about…" In one swift movement, Cass gathers both children in her arms and gives each of them a kiss on the cheek. "A big _kiss?_ " she teases.

Vanellope and Hiro squirm in Cass' hold, though they're laughing nonetheless. It isn't until they're put back down that they speak.

"No way!" Hiro says first.

"Kissing's _icky!_ "

"Yeah! Everyone's got _cooties!_ "

"Kissing makes me wanna _verp!_ "

"Exactly!"

Cass laughs again. "You two won't think that when you're older. You might actually _like it_." she exaggerates, smiling slyly.

Her words cause both children to break out in fake coughing and gagging.

"Now I REALLY think I'm gonna verp!"

"Don't joke about that, Aunt Cass!"

Vanellope nods in agreement, a look of disgust stuck on her face. "Never, _ever_ joke about that!"

"I'm not joking," Cass smirks. Man, it's so easy to tease these two. She smiles at them and heads back to the kitchen to finish up some of the sweets she had been frosting. "you'll see!"

They look at each other for a moment before breaking out into more coughing and gagging.

"GROSS!"

* * *

"Your aunt was right, y'know."

"...Huh?"

Vanellope looks up from her notebook. Her and Hiro are sitting on the couch, relaxing for the first time in a while. Their wedding is in a week, and things have been crazy lately, what with making sure that the wedding is set and ready. The notebook that Vanellope is holding is actually filled with all of the wedding plans and costs, not to mention some of Vanellope's doodles on the sides that she draws whenever she finds herself unable to pay attention. Neither of them consider themselves to be very organized people, so the notebook helps to keep important things in order.

"Remember that time when we were little and at your aunt's cafe?"

Hiro smirks and looks down at his fiance, (God, he loves being able to call her that) adjusts his arms around her shoulder, and looks down at her. "Oh, yeah, that one time we were at the cafe out of all the times that we hung out there? Yeah, 'course I remember that one specific time!" he responds sarcastically.

Vanellope rolls her eyes and elbows him gently. "Don't be such a smart-aleck," she laughs. "That time when we had a drawing contest or something? And we asked Cass to choose which drawing was better?"

Ah, _now_ he remembers. Vaguely, but he still remembers, nonetheless. "Oh, yeah. We didn't know what the winner would get as a reward, and she suggested a kiss."

"Yup." she nods.

"And we yelled about how gross it was and then she said that we'd actually like kissing someday?"

"Uh-huh."

"What about that time?" he asks and tilts his head with an amused smile.

Vanellope answers by pulling him close and kisses him on the lips. Hiro happily kisses her back, his hand moving from her shoulder to her waist.

She breaks the kiss after a few and smiles cheekily. "Well, she was right."

Hiro uses his free hand to wipe at his mouth and feigns disgust. "No she wasn't! You have cooties! Gross!"

Vanellope shoves him but she can't help but smirk as she pulls him in for another kiss. "Shut up, you nerd."

* * *

"I can't do this."

"Hiro -"

"What was I thinking? I'm twenty-two years old and I can't even make mac 'n cheese without burning it!"

"Hiro, just calm -"

"How can I be a husband when I can't even make make edible mac 'n cheese?"

"Hiro…"

"I really can't do this. Why did I think I could do this? Yeah, I love her, but still, she-"

"HIRO!"

Hiro looks over at his best man and two groomsmen. Tadashi, his brother and best man, takes a few steps closer to him and places a reassuring hand on his shoulder. It's actually kind of funny to Hiro, finally being able to say that he's taller than his big brother.

"Hiro, you need to calm. Down." Tadashi says to him. His two groomsmen, Fred and Wasabi, nod in agreement.

"Seriously, dude. It's just your wedding." Fred comments. It was weird to see him dressed up so… fancy. Honestly, Hiro half expected him to show up in some costume rather than a tuxedo. "You've been planning it for months and you choose now to freak out? Not the best plan."

Hiro throws his hands up in exasperation. "Well _sor-ry_ that my freaking out is inconvenient! I'll be sure to schedule it differently next time!"

Wasabi stands off to the side, arms crossed over his chest. For once, he isn't the one freaking out. "Listen to your brother, little man," though, he isn't so little anymore. "and calm down. You're worrying for nothing, trust us."

"That's easy for you guys to say!" Hiro exclaims. "You guys aren't the ones getting married!"

"Maybe not, but we sure do know that freaking out isn't gonna do any good for you, bro." Tadashi says. "Look; we know that you're worried and it's totally normal. But you and Van are a team after things you can't do, like make simple mac 'n cheese," he ignores the glare from his brother, "Van'll probably be able to do. And the things that Van can't do, you'll be able to do. And if you guys need help with something, you've got all your friends and family to help you guys out."

Hiro nods and takes a deep breath. He's about to speak again when there's a knock at the door. "Time to get out there, Hiro! Everyone's waiting!"

A sudden rush of nerves and excitement rushes through Hiro. He looks over at his brother.

"Well, Hiro," Tadashi smiles and pats his brother's shoulder. "You ready, little bro?"

Hiro exhales shakily and smiles, despite his nerves. "As ready as I'll ever be."

* * *

Vanellope has never been a fan of dresses, but looking at herself in the mirror with her wedding dress on, she finds herself not being bothered by wearing a dress. She runs her hands along the silky fabric as she admires it. The dress is simple*; it's strapless with a wide, beaded fabric sewn on at the waist. The fabric beads were sewn into various elegant designs. The elegance of the waist fabric meshed with the simple white dress made the dress perfect for her. It isn't too fancy and extravagant, nor is it too plain and boring.

It's perfect. Well, as perfect as a _dress_ can get.

Her hair isn't too fancy, either. Cass actually did her hair and put the upper section of her hair into a small updo and accompanied it with a white, bedazzled hair clip. The veil was inserted right above the clip, but Vanellope decides to leave it out of her face for now.

Vanellope had been nervous when the wedding was being planned. But now that it's actually here, she can barely contain her excitement. She's been smiling all day, practically jumping in her seat, and barely able to stay still.

She turns around and faces her bridesmaids and maid of honor. Her best friend, Taffyta, was her maid of honor, and her bridesmaids consisted of some of her other friends, Jubileena, Snowanna, Candlehead (those were all nicknames, of course). Her Aunt Tamora had been Vanellope's first choice for maid of honor, but Tamora had insisted on staying in the crowd to watch.

"Well?"

She hears a chorus of different things, all of which were good and said with smiles and with excitement

Vanellope looks over at her Aunt Tamora. Ever since she was little, Vanellope had Tamora as a role model/motherly figure. Just like when she was a child, Vanellope still craves her aunt's approval and praise. She looks up at her aunt with those big, hazel eyes of hers, but her smile falters. Is… Is her aunt tearing up?

"If ya don't like it, you can just say so. It's nothing to _cry_ over…"

"I'm not crying, soldier." despite how old Vanellope gets, her aunt always calls her by her nicknames. "I'm just really happy for you, short stuff. It's hard to believe that that little annoying brat is all grown up."

Vanellope grins and makes no hesitation in hugging her aunt. Her aunt, however, hesitates before hugging her back. She has never been a fan of showing affection.

"Don't worry, Sarge; I'll always be an annoying brat, in your eyes." Vanellope teases back.

Vanellope lets go of her aunt, and a knock is heard. Her attention is brought to the door, and she sees Tamora and Felix's daughter, her cousin, poke her head in the room. She's the flower girl, much to her delight. She loves her cousin a lot, and has been excited about the wedding since she heard that she would be the flower girl in it.

"Daddy said to tell you that it's time!"

* * *

Hiro feels like he's been standing there for hours. His hearts is pounding and his legs feel like jello and he just can't stop worrying or -

And then the music starts.

* * *

Vanellope walks over to her adoptive father, who was waiting patiently (and may she add, _more nervous than she is_ ) to walk her down the aisle. She's smiling so much that her cheeks hurt, but she doesn't care. Her smile only grows when Ralph looks at her.

"Ah, Stinkbrain, don't start crying _already!_ " Vanellope laughs and holds Ralph's hands in front of her.

"Sorry, Van," he apologizes, sheepishly wiping away a tear. "but it's hard not to. Just look at you, all grown up. It seems like it was only last week that I volunteered at that orphanage and met a little guttersnipe that asked me if I was a hobo and needed directions."

She laughs again, the said memory as clear as day. "Hey, it's not my fault that you looked like a hobo! That happens when ya shower only once a month."

"Hah, hey now -"

And the music starts.

* * *

His heart feels like it's beating faster, if that's even possible at this point. As he watches everyone walk down the aisle, he becomes even more nervous. With each person that passes, he becomes even more tense. He just wants to see Vanellope and -

Suddenly everybody stands up. He stops breathing for a moment.

She is absolutely _gorgeous._

* * *

Her arm is linked with Ralph's, and she becomes even more jittery and excited with each passing moment. She can hardly wait anymore. She sees her cousin start to drop petals as she walks, and then her bridesmaids a few moments after. This is it. _This is it._ She hears the part of the song that was for her, and hears the sound of people standing up.

She holds in a breath and smiles as she practically pulls Ralph along to the beginning of the aisle.

She looks around at everyone standing up at their seats, then at her bridesmaids, and Hiro's groomsmen, and then Hiro himself.

He is down-right _handsome._

* * *

As he gazes into her eyes, his nerves become less intense. There she is, the love of his life. The girl he's been best friends with for as long as he can remember; the girl that has always been there for him; the girl that always makes him smile despite how horrible he may feel; the girl that takes his breath away with her beauty, despite any circumstances;

The girl that he's so deeply in love with.

* * *

She can only look at him as she walks down the aisle. It's as if no one else is there, just her and Hiro. After what feels like _forever_ , the moment is finally here.

She turns to Ralph and hugs him, which he happily returns.

"Love you, Ralphie." she whispers.

Finally she's standing in front of her soon-to-be husband and she _can't stop smiling_.

How does one stop smiling when they're literally moments away from finally marrying the person they love?

* * *

" _You look beautiful_." he mouths.

" _You don't look too bad yourself_." she mouths back.

* * *

They're holding hands and every word that is said by the priest** isn't heard by them. All they see is each other. All they feel is happiness and excitement. They only begin listening when it's time to say their wedding vows.

"I, Vanellope von Schweetz," she slides the ring on his finger and then looks back into his eyes. She'd told herself she wouldn't cry, but she can't help her wavering voice. "take you, Hiro Hamada, to be my lawfully wedded husband, despite how much of a dork you are, because I am so deeply in love with you."

The couple laughs, as well as some sitting in the audience.

"I, Hiro Hamada, take you, Vanellope von Schweetz, to be my lawfully wedded wife," even his voice wavers a bit. He slides the ring onto her finger and holds her hand tight. "because I would be completely, utterly lost without you. I promise to take care of and love you through whatever life throws at us. I can do anything, as long as I have you." he pauses and chuckles. "And I know how cliche it sounds, but it's the truth."

She laughs and squeezes his hand.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride."

Vanellope pulls him into a kiss, and no words could ever describe how happy she feels.

* * *

Neither of them were fans of dancing, but they danced nonetheless. The time soon came for their first dance as husband and wife

"My aunt was right, you know."

Vanellope lifts her head off his chest and looks up at him. "Huh?"

"Remember that time we were at my aunt's cafe? And we thought that kissing was gross, but she insisted that we'd like it someday when we're older?"

He smiles and gently spins her, then pulls her close for a loving kiss.

"She was right."

* * *

 **A/N:**

 ***The dress and hairstyle I used as reference are on the tumblr post (take away the spaces):** _hamada-sisters . tumblr post / 122389377795 / a-n-so-this-begins-with-a-flashback-to-when-they_

 ****That's what they're called, right? The priest?**

 **aND I DONT THINK YOU UNDERSTAND HOW HARD IT WAS TO WRITE THAT WITHOUT SQUEALING OK**

 **EITHER WAY I hope that you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! c: A plus tard, mes amis!**


	3. What Else Is New?

***Reposted to this story in order to keep all of my oneshots together. c:***

 **A/N: Hey guys! I have some more vaniro for you!**

 **On tumblr, mayavstheforcesofevil made this post:**

 **"Headcanon that Vanellope sleeps over at Hiro's a lot (and I mean actually sleep) and that the Lucky Cat Cafe is also open on Saturdays, and they're both employees. They wake up so lazily, like they stretch over each other like big cats and just snuggle until they absolutely need to get up. Despite it being his bathroom, she hogs it the most but literally all he has to do is toothbrush, wash his face, and get out. And most of the time, they're both sleepy when they're getting dressed, so Vanellope ends up wearing Hiro's jacket or t-shirt twice her size and not noticing it until the middle of the day. The team come over a lot, and they place bets on whether or not Vanellope would be wearing his jacket or something. Whenever they point it out, both of them just blush for a second and go "what else is new" before getting back to work."**

 **She wanted someone to write it and it was too adorable not to write! It's not too long and it's definitely not perfect, but I hope you guys enjoy it nonetheless! You can read it on tumblr by going here (take away the spaces): hamada-sisters . tumblr . c o m . tagged / fanfic**

 **They're both 18-20 in this fic.**

 **Enjoy! c:**

* * *

The sound of an alarm clock goes off, followed by the sound of attempts to shut off the alarm clock and an alarm clock falling to the ground. The alarm clock is now quiet.

Vanellope and Hiro groan as they struggle to wake up. Their shifts down at the Lucky Cat Cafe will begin in about an hour, meaning that they have to get ready for the day.

Of course, they aren't going to get ready right away, though.

Vanellope sighs and rolls over so that she's practically on top of Hiro, her head now on his chest. He really doesn't mind, though; it's not like she's heavy.

"Morning, bedhead," she greets with a sleepy smile as she runs her hands through his messy and tangled hair. "I hate your alarm clock, by the way."

Hiro can't help but chuckle at her comment. "You say that every time it goes off, Van." he says, placing one arm on Vanellope's back and the other behind his head.

"I know, 'cause I'm reminded of how much I hate it every time it goes off."

"Blame Aunt Cass; she's the one who makes us work so early."

"Yeah, but you're the one who listens to her and sets the alarm clock."

"Would you rather us get in trouble for being late?"

"Why not?" she teases.

He rolls his eyes, though he can't help but smile. "What am I gonna do with you?"

She shrugs and smiles, trying to look as sweet and innocent as possible. "I dunno. I guess you'll just have to love me forever."

"Do I _have_ to?" he smirks, clearly messing around with her.

"Uh huh! You're stuck with me forever."

"Alright, fine." he sighs and momentarily pretends to be disappointed. He gives up the act right away, however, due to not being able to resist not kissing her any longer.

For a while now, Vanellope has been staying over night at Hiro's house and helping around the Lucky Cat Cafe with him the next day. Both of their guardians had been a bit skeptical of it at first, specifically them sleeping in the same bed most nights, but knew that the adolescents wouldn't do anything that they're not supposed two. They're both very trustworthy and smart, so their guardians eventually agreed to it.

The couple stays like that for a while, with Vanellope laying practically atop of Hiro and snuggling up to him, and with Hiro embracing her with his free arm and rubbing small circles on her back. It's nice and peaceful, being able to just be with the one they love and relax for a little while before the hectic day that lies ahead of them. The cafe is usually very busy on Saturdays.

Several minutes pass and suddenly the stupid alarm clock goes off again, much to the couple's annoyance. Hiro leans over the side of his bed (well, as far as he can, considering his girlfriend being on top of him) and shuts the alarm setting off.

"Alright," he begins after clearing his throat. "Get up, babe. We gotta start getting ready now."

Hiro gently shifts Vanellope back onto the mattress beside him, causing her to whine in protest.

"Noooooo… I wanna lay here foreveeerrrrr…"

Hiro can't help but laugh. Why does she have to be so _adorable?_

"I do, too, Vanny, but we gotta get ready. Come on."

"No."

"Alright," Hiro begins as he stands up. "I'm gonna go to the bathrom and brush my teeth and hair. When I come come here to change, you have to start getting ready, too. Deal?"

"Mhmm. I pinky promise." she mumbles, holding her pinky up.

He chuckles at her child-like way of agreement and wraps his pinky finger around hers. "Alright."

* * *

After finishing up in the bathroom (which ends up taking longer than usual, due to him having to brush all of the massive knots in his hair from sleeping), Hiro heads back to his bedroom, planning on changing while Vanellope is in the bathroom. "You're up, Van."

"Noooooooo…"

"If you don't get up I'll drag you there."

She lifts up her head and looks at him. "You wouldn't."

"Oh, but I would." He walks closer to her. Without warning he easily pulls her out of bed and puts her over his shoulder. She's protesting and insisting that he put her down, but it's hard to take seriously since she's laughing. Darn it. Why does she have to be so small? If she wasn't so small, Hiro wouldn't be able to pick her up as easily.

Though, it can come in handy when they're out and about and Vanellope doesn't feel like walking.

Once they reach the bathroom, which doesn't take long to reach since it's right down the hall (though it takes longer than usual because of Vanellope's protest by holding onto the doorframe), he places her back on the ground and heads back to his room to finish getting ready. Once Vanellope finishes up in the bathroom (she doesn't like to wear make up, really, but it still takes her a while, due to all of the knots that form in her hair when she sleeps), Hiro has already finished and headed downstairs for breakfast. Vanellope yawns and heads back to the room to change into whatever clean clothes happen to be lying on the bed. Frankly, all she wants to do right now is lie down in bed with her boyfriend and _sleep_. What she's wearing for the day is the least of her concerns. After she changes, the tired girl heads down the stairs to join Hiro for a quick breakfast.

* * *

It's two o'clock, and the amount of customers in the cafe is finally starting to decrease. It's Saturday, and breakfast and lunch have come and gone. The cafe is very busy during those two times of the day, especially on the weekends.

Hiro and Vanellope are cleaning the empty tables, waiting until their friends arrive before taking their break. They both look up at the sound of a bell, signifying the door is being opened. To no surprise, it's their friends, Honey Lemon, Gogo, Wasabi, and Fred. Though they had only been Hiro's friends for quite some time, Vanellope was introduced to them one day when she went to the 'nerd lab' to see Hiro. Ever since then they've been getting to know each other better. They get along, thankfully.

Honey Lemon speaks first with her cheery voice. "Heeeey, you guys! Are you ready to head over to the arcade?! I know I am!"

They both grin. Earlier the week before, Vanellope had told them about an arcade her and Hiro go to sometimes. Vanellope almost _fainted_ when the team said that they'd never been (well, she hadn't literally fainted, but she was very shocked!). Thus, Vanellope had insisted that they all go sometime, and thankfully Aunt Cass had granted them permission to take the rest of the day off. Vanellopr adores the arcade, and is very excited to go.

"Heck yeah!" Vanellope responds.

Hiro lets out a breathy laugh as he unties his apron. "Let's get going, then!"

The two put away the rags they used to wipe down to wipe down the tables as well as their aprons.

"Ha!" Fred exclaims suddenly. "I told you guys!"

Vanellope raises an eyebrow. "Told them what?"

"Alright, Freddie, you were right." Honey says.

"For once." Gogo adds.

This time Hiro interjects. "Right about _what?_ "

"They always bet that Vanellope'll be wearing either one of your shirts or sweatshirts. Because, for some reason, she's always wearing one or the other." Wasabi explains, gesturing to Vanellope. "Fred said you'd be wearing his sweatshirt. And he was actually right."

Vanellope glances at the sweatshirt she's wearing. Just like he said, she's wearing Hiro's navy blue sweatshirt in place of her mint green one. Honestly, she didn't even notice. She didn't pay much attention when choosing her clothes that morning, and she's been running around the cafe all day with an apron around her torso. Plus, she likes wearing his sweatshirt. It's a little big on her, but that just makes it all the more comfortable to wear.

Vanellope glances up at Hiro, who runs his hand through his hair and laughs sheepishly. What can he say? She always wears his sweatshirts. He just didn't think anyone actually takes notice of it.

Vanellope looks back up at the group and shrugs. "What else is new?"

They all laugh and decide to start heading over to the arcade. Wasabi insists that they need to hurry so that they don't miss the trolly.

After yelling a quick goodbye to Cass (and one last hug), Hiro looks down at Vanellope and offers her his hand. She can't help but smile (and try to hold back what she calls 'one of those really girly sounding giggles', in which Hiro is the only one that ever makes her need to hold it back in the first place) and take his hand.

Thankfully, they arrive at the trolley with enough time for them to find a spot for them all to sit before the trolley goes back into motion. They mostly talk about the arcade. Well, Vanellope talks about the arcade. She explains the arcade and things they're going to do their with excitement and joy apparent in both her voice and on her face. Hiro watches and listens to her with a smile; he could listen to her talk happily all day. That's one of the things he loves about her; how excited she becomes over simple things, how even though she's technically a legal adult she still has a child-like personality and jubilation. It's practically impossible for him to be upset or angry in any way when she's smiling.

At a point in the conversation where Vanellope nor Hiro are speaking, Hiro speaks quietly enough for only Vanellope to hear.

"It's a good thing we took the trolley."

She smirks. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," he responds with a teasing smile. "I mean, if you can't walk from my bed to the bathroom, there's no way you could walk all the way to the _arcade!_ "

Vanellope laughs and playfully punches him. "Shut up, you dork."


	4. I Still Get Jealous

***Reposted to this story in order to keep all of my oneshots together. c:***

 **A/N: This was requested by fangirl-lair on tumblr and was posted on hamada-sisters . tumblr tagged / fanfics**

 **This probably turned out kind of cliche, but whatever. They're around seventeen and eighteen in this fic, and aren't dating quite yet. It'll make sense once you finish reading it.**

 **Also, I'd like to dedicate this story not only to who requested this, but also the Guest who left that _wonderful_ review on 'See You Soon':**

 ** _Guest:_** _This was a great story. Shame you won't be continuing for a while._ _Oh, wait. You say writing fanfiction is becoming a chore, but I can clearly see that you have no problems writing $#!tty Vanellope/Hiro fics at the drop of a Tumblr prompt. Thanks for the false hope!_

 **You do realize that the hiatus announcement was posted about a year ago, right? At the time, it did feel like it was a chore. I was going through a lot and I didn't write at all for a while, actually. But I got the muse for a new ship in that time and I found myself wanting to write again a few months ago.**

 **And I didn't realize that I had to keep VanillaButter my main ship for the rest of time. Now that I'm writing Vaniro, not VanillaButter, my writing is automatically shitty? What is your logic exactly?**

 **And I wasn't the only one writing it; it was my friend, Cristi, and I who wrote it together and neither of us had the time or motivation to continue it. Now we both have Vaniro as a main ship; we've moved on and have new interests.**

 **You don't have to ship Vaniro, and that's totally okay. But don't anonymously leave a rude and disrespectful review when you don't know what's going on behind the curtain. Grow up.**

 **Anywho!**

 **Admittedly, it's not my best, but I hope you like it! c:**

* * *

Although Hiro graduated from high school several years ago, he still visits his old school everyday. After all, his best friend Vanellope attends that school. She won't for much longer, since it's her last year and she'll be graduating soon. Almost everyday, Hiro heads down to the school and walks home with her. They're both pretty busy, what with Vanellope and her schoolwork and Hiro with his college stuff, so it's the one time that they get to just talk to each other on weekdays.

Hiro happens to be in a pretty good mood that day. He's excited to see Vanellope and tell her about his newest project. He heads over to the school's courtyard and turns the corner to the steps where Vanellope always meets him.

…Who the _hell_ is that other guy she's talking to?

The stranger has golden blond hair, so golden blond that it looks like it has to be _dyed_ to be such a color. He has bright, blue eyes and a face so smug and cocky looking that Hiro just wants to _punch_ the smirk right off his face. Vanellope laughs at something he says. What did that guy say that was so funny?

 _Woah, woah, woah!_ Hiro finds himself thinking. _Am I seriously_ jealous _of this guy? He's only talking to her! We're just friends, anyways. Van can talk to whoever she wants to._

Vanellope waves at the stranger and he waves back as he walks away.

 _Even if the guy has a better chance with her than he does._

 _…Wait, what?_

Hiro shakes his head and quickly makes his way over to Vanellope, who hears the sound of footsteps and looks at him.

"Hey! What's shakin', bacon?" she greets him with her signature smile and holds onto her backpack straps.

Hiro smiles back, though it's a little forced. "Hey, Van. Uh… W-Who was that guy you were talking to?"

 _Okay, that sounded more clingy and stalkerish than it was supposed to…_ Hiro thinks, mentally facepalming himself.

"Who, that guy?" Vanellope raises an eyebrow and gestures to her blond friend that had walked away. "Ah, that's just Rancis. Well, his real name's Francis, but everyone calls him Rancis."

He nods with a little hum to let her know that he heard and walks beside Vanellope as they begin their routine walk back to the cafe for a snack. "Rancis? Never heard you talk about him before. Is he a friend, or…?" Nice, just sound subtle, calm, and not at all nosey.

"Yeah, he's a friend." Vanellope's attention is drawn to a rock and she kicks it as she walks. "We're gonna go bowling and maybe get some ice cream at that new place downtown. Y'know, that one with the commercial on TV with the fancy jingle?" she looks up at him and smiles cheekily, easily recalling the commercial. "' _Iiiiiiiif 'yer lookin' for a treat, clap your hands! If 'yer–_ '"*

She's cut off by Hiro playfully shoving her and laughing. "Yes, yes, I know the commercial! Don't sing it, you know that the song always gets stuck in my head for days!"

"Duh, why else do ya think I started singing it?"

Hiro chuckles, but his smile soon fades. "Wait, I thought we were gonna hang out this weekend? Remember, I said that I was gonna bring you to that old arcade across town?"

The teen's eyes widen in realization and hits the palm of her hand against her forehead in frustration. "Ugh, you're right, I forgot! I'm so, so sorry! I was so excited for it, and I just completely spaced it."

"How do you forget about something you're that excited about?" Hiro mumbles.

"I don't know, Hiro, it just happened, okay? And I'm really, really sorry." she repeats. "Rancis and I have just been meaning to hang out for a while now, and he decided to ask me to hang out this weekend, and it just… slipped my mind."

Hiro stays quiet, unsure of what to say. If he does speak, he's afraid he'll say something he might regret. He just felt so… _angry._ He doesn't know why, but the thought of Vanellope hanging out alone with some guy he doesn't know just makes him feel… _jealous_.

Why is he getting so jealous over this? He's not Vanellope's _boyfriend_ , or anything. He's just her friend. She has the right to hang out with whomever she pleases.

"How 'bout you come along with us?" Vanellope suggests. "It's not fair to you for me to just ditch you for someone else, 'specially when we made plans to hang out first. This way I can hang out with both of you!"

Hiro looks at her.

"And then we can go to the arcade _next weekend._ Pinky promise." She holds out her pinky.

Hiro can't help but chuckle. Vanellope's probably the only seventeen-year-old he knows that still _pinky promises_. He locks his pinky with hers and smiles. "Deal."

"Awesome!" she squeals. Someone would have to be blind to not see her excitement. "You 'nd Rancis'll get along great!"

"If you say so, Schweetz."

* * *

Hiro had been told to meet Vanellope and Rancis at the bowling alley at one o'clock. He decides to arrive there a few minutes early and get a lane for the three of them. He thinks it would be a nice thing to do, considering Vanellope didn't have to invite him, but did anyways.

Apparently Rancis had the same idea.

…And Vanellope did, too? Why are they already half way through a game?

Hiro walks to the lane, confusion evident on his face as he tries to gain Vanellope's attention.

"Van!"

Vanellope, who had been preparing to roll the ball since it's her turn, hesitates rolling the ball at the sound of someone calling her name. She stands up straight and turns to face the source of the voice. Seeing who it is, she smiles.

"Nice of you to finally join us, Hamada." she greets. "– Rancis, this is my best friend, Hiro. Hiro, this is Rancis, the friend I told you about." she then turns back around to take her turn.

Even though the polite thing to do when you meet someone is shake their hand, Hiro doesn't shake Rancis'. He's too focused on what Vanellope just said. He raises an eyebrow. "What do you mean _finally?_ " the messy haired teen inquires once she finishes her turn. "You told me to meet you guys here at one o'clock."

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Rancis glance up and then records Vanellope's score.

"Yeah, and then I–" Vanellope cuts herself off abruptly, followed by her hitting her palm against her forehead. "I forgot to tell you, didn't I?"

When Hiro doesn't respond, Vanellope continues to speak.

"Rancis suggested that we come here a little earlier and I didn't see why not. I was s'posed to text you the change of plans, but–"

Hiro finishes her sentence before she can. "But you forgot."

"Yeah, I forgot…"

The spunky teen can't help but feel a little guilty. Though it isn't that big of a deal (at least, in her opinion it isn't), she still knows that it's kind of her fault. After all, it had been her job to inform him, and she had forgotten.

"Sorry, Hiro. Really, I'm sorry. Do you want to join the game now?" she gestures towards the keyboard used to type in names and scores.

He glances up at the scoreboard. They're already in the seventh frame, with Vanellope ahead by a few points. Why make them start all over when they're almost finished anyways?

"It's fine, Van," Hiro replies, shaking his head. "You guys just finish up this game. It's no big deal."

Though he claims it's no big deal, a part of him can't help but think, _yes, it IS a big deal_.

He finds himself thinking as he sits and watches the blonde and ravenette finish their game. It's weird, and he doesn't know why, but… every time he sees them laughing at each other, playfully shove the other at certain remarks, even when they _high five_ , he gets this odd feeling in the pit of his stomach. His jaw tightens and hands clench into fists, though he doesn't fully acknowledge it.

Why is he feeling like this? And why is it so on and off? Why only when Vanellope and Rancis–

Wait. He's not _upset_ about it, is he? Or _angry?_ No, it can't be. He doesn't feel upset or angry exactly.

Perhaps he felt both upset _and_ angry?

Yeah, that's how he feels when they act like this, all buddy-buddy. He feels upset and angry. Maybe even envious.

He's _jealous_.

* * *

After bowling, the three head over to a the new ice cream place down the street. Vanellope orders mint-chocolate chip ice cream with a sugar cone, Rancis orders chocolate peanut butter ice cream in a small cup, and Hiro settles for vanilla ice cream in a cup with gummy bears for a topping.

"So," Hiro begins in between bites of his ice cream. "You and Van know each other from school?"

"Yeah," Rancis replies. "We met in -…what was it, sophomore year? - in art class."

Vanellope laughs, recalling the memory. "Oh, yeah! We had to stay after school and you spilled a bunch of paint on the floor. Then when I tried to help, you ended up pulling me into the paint _with_ you!"

"I didn't spill it, it fell off the counter!"

"Nu-uh! You-"

Hiro intentionally coughs loudly into his sleeve until the two pause their discussion.

"Uh, you alright, Hiro?" Rancis questions awkwardly.

Hiro clears his throat one final time. Geez, just _hearing_ the guy's voice makes him angry. "Yeah, yeah, just fine. Just had a tickle in my throat. All better now."

Vanellope raises an eyebrow. "Okaaaay..." she turns back to Rancis. "Anyways, I'm-"

Hiro speaks up before she can say anything else. "Van and I actually met back in elementary school. Right, Van?"

"Yeah, we did." she doesn't say anything as Hiro continues to babble on, but something feels off. Hiro's never this talkative; it's like he's making sure _he_ keeps talking so that Rancis and her self _can't._ Why is he acting so weird? And why did he interrupt her and Rancis' conversation?

* * *

"I had a great time, Van. I'm glad we finally got to hang out." Rancis says.

The trio is standing in the parking lot, getting ready to part ways. Rancis stands in front of Vanellope whilst Hiro stands close to her.

"Me, too." she says before Rancis pulls her towards him for a goodbye hug. Hiro's eyes suddenly narrow and his hands clench into fists at his sides. He awkwardly clears his throat after a moment or two, absolutely appalled at the sight of them hugging.

Vanellope rolls her eyes and pulls away from him. "I'll see you at school on Monday."

"Yup," he faces Hiro and holds his hand out. "Nice meeting you, Hiro."

Hiro begrudgingly shakes the other boy's hand with a rather tight grip. "You too, _Rancis._ "

Rancis pulls back his hand from his tight grip and climbs into his car. It isn't until he drives away that Vanellope faces Hiro, clearly upset.

"What is your _problem?!_ "

" _My_ problem?" Hiro replies with shock. "I don't have a problem!"

"Then tell me why you're acting so weird."

"I'm not acting weird!"

"Yes you are, Hiro! You interrupted me and Rancis' conversations constantly, didn't let us be less than a foot close to each other, and you were a jerk to him! I didn't have to invite you, but I did, and this is how you act?"

"It's not my fault!" he replies angrily. "He was practically _flirting_ with you!"

Vanellope is about to practically yell with rage.

"If I wasn't there, he probably would have asked you out or something! He's just some stuck-up kid trying to manipulate you into something you don't want! You deserve better than him, Van, and- and-" he struggles to find the words to describe what he wants to say, and he stops talking all together.

Both teens are quiet for a few moments, trying to register what just happened.

"...Are you _jealous_ of him, Hiro?"

"What?! No! I'm not jealous of-"

"Yes, you are! You've never acted like that with any of my other friends beore! You're _jealous_ of him!"

"Augh!" Hiro lets out a frustrated sound. "Okay, I'm jealous of him, Vanellope! Happy now?"

"No." Vanellope responds rather calmly.

"Then why the h-" Hiro is cut off by Vanellope when she pulls him towards her by his shirt collar and pressed her lips to his.

Vanellope smiles at him when they break apart. "You like me, don't you?"

He stammers, face suddenly bright pink. He scratches the back of his neck and looks off to the side. "I - I-I don't know what you're- I-I don't..." he sighs, still avoiding eye contact. "I-I'm sorry, Van."

She scoffs. "Why didn't ya just tell me?"

"Because I thought you and blondie liked each other!"

Vanellope bursts out laughing, and only then does Hiro finally make eye contact with her. "What's so funny?"

"Hiro, I only like one person, and that person is _you_. I was waiting for you to woman up and build the courage to actually say something to me about it."

"But... But, I-I thought..."

"I told you," she continues. "me and Rancis are just _friends_. I promise. I only like you, Hiro."

Hiro laughs sheepishly and scratches the back of his neck. "I like you too, Van. I really like you."

"Well, no duh."

He rolls his eye, though is smiling nonetheless. "So... you wanna actually go to the arcade sometime? Just you and I?"

Vanellope hums in thought. "Hm... I suppose so. But on one condition."

"Anything."

"It has to be a date and you have to stop being such a baby and properly ask me out."

He laughs once more. "Deal."

* * *

 **Is it weird that Van and Rancis used to be my OTP whoops**


	5. Diagnosis

**A/N: I got a request for 'Vaniro experiencing the wonderful world of pregnancy', but accidentally deleted the ask before I screenshotted it. This isn't exactly that, but it gave me an idea, so hopefully this is good enough, whoever requested that.**

 **They're in their early twenties in this fic and it takes place a while after 'She Was Right'.**

 **Warning: Description of illness and girl stuff, if you know what I mean. Though it's only briefly mentioned, if you're uncomfortable with that kind of stuff, don't read this.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Hiro wakes up to the sound of a door slamming shut. He slowly opens his eyes and reaches for his phone on the nightstand. After clicking the screen on and realizing that he forgot to turn down his screen brightness the night before, he eventually adjusts to the bright screen enough to check the time.

It's about two in the morning.

He clicks the screen back off and rolls over to check on his wife. She, to no surprise, isn't in bed.

For the third time that week, Vanellope woke up in the wee hours of the morning, triggered by nausea, and rushed to the bathroom. Hiro sighs and pushes off he covers. He needs to make sure that Vanellope is okay.

Despite Hiro's pleas, Vanellope refuses to go to the doctor.

 _"At least let Baymax scan you. I just wanna make sure you're okay." Hiro had practically begged the previous night after a sick spell._

 _"No, Hiro," she replied, stubborn as ever. "You know I hate the doctors. And there's no need for Baymax t' scan me. It's just a stomach bug, it'll go away in a few days."_

But nothing is getting better. If anything, things have been getting worse. Along with constantly being nauseous, she gets headaches a lot, too. And when Hiro tries to get her to eat or drink something, she either refuses to or gets sick again after. She's sleeping a lot, and can't stand up for long without getting dizzy or lightheaded.

So, yes, he is _very_ concerned about his wife. He wishes she wasn't so stubborn; it'd be easier to get her to the doctors to make sure she's okay and Hiro's worry would drop tremendously.

He pauses once he reaches the bathroom door. He can hear coughing and gagging, which only worries him further.

He knocks on the door. "Babe? Can I come in?"

No response. Slowly he opens the door and spots Vanellope at the same spot she's been the past few nights: leaning over the toilet bowl, waiting for the wave of nausea to pass.

"Get out, Hiro." she croaks meekly. "I'm fine. Go... go back t' bed."

Hiro shakes his head and sits on the edge of the bathtub and places a hand on her back. "I'm not going anywhere, Van."

"But you gotta..." she takes a deep breath and swallows. She's exhausted, but doesn't risk standing up. "You gotta sleep 'nd go to work tomorrow. And I gotta go work, too, and..." she mumbles more nonsense that Hiro can't comprehend.

Even though she's not looking at him he shakes his head. "You're not going anywhere tomorrow. You're staying home, and I'm staying with you."

"Hiro-"

"And the only other place we're going to is the doctor's."

"Nooooooo!" she whines, her eyes watering and lower lip pouting. It isn't like Vanellope to cry, but in her current situation, Hiro understands.

"Yes." as he speaks he starts to help her stand up slowly. "I know you don't like it there, Vanny, but I'm worried about you. I just need to make sure you're okay."

He continues to help her stand up and regain her balance through her tired haze. After she stops at the sink to rinse the horrid taste from her mouth, she is lead back into their bedroom. She sighs as she lays close to Hiro on their bed. She won't say it out loud, but she's a bit nervous, too. She doesn't stay awake for long, though, because fatigue eventually takes over and she finds her eyelids too heavy to keep open.

* * *

Though she's not feeling a hundred percent better, Vanellope is able to sit at the table the next morning and eat something small for breakfast. Not much seems appetizing to her, but she eventually settles with some toast. She's still tired, though, and ends up taking a nap on the couch around midday. Hiro takes this as the opportunity to activate Baymax to scan her.

"Hello, Hiro." Baymax greets. "How may I be of assistance?"

Hiro is glad that he installed an activation button on Baymax's charging station, perfect for situations when someone needs him for something other than an injury.

"Baymax," Hiro begins quietly after activating said robot. He gestures to Vanellope. "scan her."

The robot does as told, facing Hiro as charts appear on his torso. "There seems to be an increase in hormones, such as human chorionic gonadotropin and estrogen. Both can cause nausea and vomiting. There also seems to be a lack of a regular menstruation cycle."

Hiro raises an eyebrow.

"Diagnosis: pregnancy."

* * *

Vanellope wakes up to familiar voices. She yawns and rubs her eyes as she sits up. "Hiro, what's-"

She opens her eyes and sees Hiro staring at her, wide-eyed. She's about to question why he's looking at her in such a way, but looks over at Baymax and sees the charts on his chest.

Now she understands.

"Uh..." she looks nervously at him. "Surprise?"

Baymax turns towards her. "You appear to-"

She quickly cuts him off. "Thanks, Baymax. I'm satisfied with my care."

Hearing the phrase that causes him to deactivate, Baymax heads back to his charging station and deflates, leaving the couple alone in silence.

Hiro takes a breath and speaks up. "How long did you know about this?"

"I just found out the other day, Hiro." Vanellope explains honestly. "I know I should've told you as soon as I found out, but I wasn't sure how to bring it up. What with you being busy with work and..." she trails off.

Suddenly, a huge smile appears on Hiro's face and he pulls her close. "So what? This - This is _amazing!_ " he laughs with glee, hugging her again and spins her around.

Vanellope can't help but smile as well and kisses him before she is placed back on the ground.

"Oh man," he continues to ramble on excitedly. "I can't believe this! I mean, we're gonna be _parents_ , Van!"

Vanellope laughs. "Really? I thought we were gonna be road constructors."

"Haha, very funny."

Hiro takes a breathe and pulls his wife towards him once more, and doesn't let go this time. He promises himself that he will be right at her side through it all. He promises to be the best father he can possibly be.

He promises to be the father that he never got to have.

* * *

Hiro wakes up to the sound of a door slamming shut. He slowly opens his eyes and reaches for his phone on the nightstand. After clicking the screen on and realizing that once again he forgot to turn down his screen brightness the night before, he eventually adjusts to the bright screen enough to check the time.

It's about two in the morning.

He clicks the screen back off and rolls over to check on his wife. She, to no surprise, isn't in bed.

For the third time that week, Vanellope woke up in the wee hours of the morning at the sound of the wailing of their eight week old infant. Of course, despite Hiro telling her that he will handle the baby when he requires attention during the night, Vanellope closed the bedroom door before heading downstairs to let Hiro sleep. She needs her rest, though, and Hiro doesn't intend on letting her get away with it.

He gets out of bed and opens the door. As he heads downstairs, the sound of his child crying only gets louder. He sees Vanellope walking back and forth as she waits for the bottle to warm up. When the microwave beeps, Hiro grabs the bottle and tests the temperature of the formula before heading towards his wife.

"Go back to sleep, Vanny." he tells her and reaches for the baby. "I'll get him back to sleep."

Though she wants to protest, she doesn't. Carefully, she passes their child to Hiro, but doesn't go back to bed quite yet.

"Hey, buddy," Hiro coos, adjusting the baby in his arms. "it's alright, I know you're hungry. Daddy's got your bottle right here."

The loud crying can no longer be heard as Hiro holds the bottle and feeds his child. Along with his subtle swaying in a calming rhythm, Hiro eventually lulls the child to sleep.

Vanellope and Hiro look at each other and smile.

They're both exhausted. But they wouldn't trade it for anything.

* * *

 **Sorry that kinda sucked, but I hope you guys liked it nonetheless! Until next time!**


	6. Gummy Bears

**A/N: This is really short, but I don't have any good ideas for better prompts. I figured I'd post it anyways, though, even though I admittedly could've put more effort into it.**

 **Anyways, they're around 19 and 20 in this.**

 **Enjoy!**

 ** _Requests are open!_**

* * *

"Vanellope!"

"What?"

"Did you eat my gummy bears?"

"Nope."

Vanellope looks up from her phone as Hiro walks into the room and gives him an amused look.

"Then why can't I find them? I left them right on the kitchen table!" he frowns.

"I dunno, bed head." she responds and turns back to her phone.

Hiro sighs and is about to walk back into the kitchen for another look around when he notices something odd under the pillow Vanellope is leaning on**.

"Van?" he asks quizzically. "Could you sit up for a second?"

She looks at him for a second before sinking further into the pillow.

"Vanellope..."

Suddenly she smirks and stifles laughter. "You asked me if I ate them. You said nothing about if I _took_ them."

Hiro shakes his head, though he can't help but laugh. "Oh, haha, very funny. Did you _take_ my gummy bears?"

"Yup."

"Can I have them back?"

"Well, since ya asked..." She reaches behind her and holds up the gummy bears. Right as Hiro reaches out to grab them, she pulls them out of his reach. "...nah."

"What?! Why not?"

Vanellope smirks and stands up on the couch as she holds the package of gummy bears above her head. Even standing on the couch, she's barely taller than Hiro. "You really want them? Ya gotta get them first!" and with that she quickly takes off down the hall. She may not be taller than him, but she sure as heck runs faster.

He's stunned for a moment and it takes him a moment to register what just happened. "Wh - Hey! Get back here, Schweetz!"

High-pitched giggles and deep-pitched laughter can be heard as they run around the apartment. There are many close calls and the number of times Hiro is just out of reach of the bag of gummies continues to grow. It isn't until Vanellope jumps over some furniture and Hiro _fails_ to jump over the furniture that they both stop running.

"That all ya got, Hamada?" Vanellope yells and looks back. When she sees Hiro face down on the floor she slowly stops running. "Hiro?"

"Ow..."

"Oh no," she breaths out and rushes to him. She shoves the bag of gummy bears in her back pocket and kneels beside him. "Are you alright, Hiro?"

Hiro groans and slowly sits himself up, clearly in pain. "Yeah, my head just hurts..."

She looks at him with a worried expression. "Is there anything that'll make you feel better? Do ya want some ice?"

Hiro shakes his head and starts to stand up and Vanellope does as well, holding onto him to make sure he doesn't get dizzy and fall over.

"I guess... I'll feel better if..." he hesitates.

Vanellope gives him a look as if to say, _well, go on_. He stays silent, but all becomes clear when she notices the gummy bears are no longer in her back pocket. He smirks cockily, and before Vanellope can say anything, runs away.

"Oh, you're _so_ going down!" she yells and runs after him.

There isn't much room to run around, which for Vanellope, is an advantage. She lunges forwards, grabbing onto his arm and they both stop running.

It doesn't do much though, because Hiro easily holds the package of gummy bears high above her head. "Hm? What's that? I can't hear you from all the way up here."

Vanellope rolls her eyes. "Alright, alright, you win this round," she tilts her head up and gives her boyfriend a kiss on the lips. "but don't get used to it, buddy."

He smirks at his small victory and places his hands around her waist. "Wouldn't _dream_ of it. - Just know that you're still not getting any of my gummy bears."

She pulls him in for another kiss, only for longer and more passionate.

Needless to say, she ends up getting some of his gummy bears.

* * *

 **A/N: **Yeah, it's kinda weird how he just happens to see them at the perfect time, right when he's about to leave the room, but I'm honestly too lazy to come up with a better way for him to see them.**


	7. Spin the Bottle

**A/N: I've been low in ideas lately, so I've been looking around for ideas. I found this post ( _onetruepairingideas . tumblr post / 123508479032 / super-cliche-fanfic-tropes-i-will-literally-never_ )and the 'spin the bottle' one caught my attention. c;**

 **I hope you guys like this! Please review; I'm really curious on what you guys think!**

* * *

She's going to the party only because Taffyta is dragging her there - _literally_. The blonde is pulling the ravenette by her wrist despite her many protests.

"C'mon, Van! It'll be _fun!_ "

"Ya know what else is fun? Getting caught by Ralph and getting grounded for the next year!"

Taffyta rolls her blue eyes and continues to pull her best friend along. "Stop being such a party pooper." she rolls her eyes once more when Vanellope laughs (she tends to have a very childish sense of humor and laughs at things like 'duty', despite almost being eighteen years old). "Swizzle is throwing a party for seniors. And _we're_ seniors. That means we're going."

"But-"

"No buts!"

Vanellope stifles a laugh.

Taffyta groans. "Ugh. You're so immature sometimes, V."

"No," she responds and attempts to pull her wrist away. "you're just _too_ mature."

"Whatever."

* * *

Vanellope and Hiro are good friends, and have been since the beginning of high school. They both have a lot of things in common: they have similar hair colors, they both tend to be rather sarcastic...

And neither of them want to be at this party.

Hiro stands off to the side and leans his back against the wall, a cup of punch in one hand and the other stuffed in his jacket pocket. Vanellope, having given up on trying to find Taffyta in the crowd of people, spots him and heads over.

"Hey!" she yells over the loud music.

Hiro looks at her. "Van! Hey! What are you doing here?"

"What?!"

He raises his voice. " _What are you doing here?!_ "

"I can't hear you! Let's go talk in the hallway!"

"What?"

"I said let's go talk in the hallway!"

She grabs his wrist and drags him out into the hallway without bothering to wait for his response. They look at each other and breath out an awkward laugh.

"I said, what are you doing here?" Hiro repeats. "I thought you had to do homework for Mr. Gene's class?"

Vanellope shrugs. "Well, I _do_ , but Taffyta decided to drag me to this party instead.

Hiro nods, rocking back and forth on his feet a few times. "Ah, I see. That sucks."

"Yeah."

The two young adolescents stand in awkward silence with nothing but the faded beat of the music from the other room to accompany them. Boy, this is awkward...

"So, uh -"

Vanellope is cut off by a door slamming open. To no big surprise, it's Taffyta, and grins once she spots Vanellope. Seeing that she's with Hiro only broadens her smile.

"There you guys are! Looks like you found each other!" she exclaims.

"Uh -"

"Come on! Swizzle's starting the games right now!" she pushes them back into the party room, even though she knows very well that neither of them are in the mood for games.

Oh, well!

They spot people gathered in the middle of the room with what looks like a battle of some sort going on. A dance battle, maybe? Or a rap battle? They have no clue and aren't really interested anyways.

Suddenly Swizzle approaches them, a sly grin on his face. "Well, well, well, look who decided to join us! Some people are playing Twister over there," he uses his them to gesture behind him at a corner away from the dance battle. Some people are preparing to start. "they need more players. Could you guys volunteer?"

"Uh, I dunno," Vanellope begins. Twister isn't exactly her ideal game; what's so fun about getting all up in peoples' personal space.

"Yeah, uh, I-I'm not really-" Hiro is cut off by Swizzle before he can say anything else.

"Great! Thanks guys!"

"Is the music making ya _deaf_ or something?! We don't wanna play Twister." Vanellope exclaims.

"I'll meet you over there once I set up some other games." and with that, the two are shoved for what feels like the tenth time that night. They exchange annoyed looks before begrudgingly joining the game.

Taffyta waits until they're out of earshot before facing Swizzle. "You think this'll work?"

Swizzle scoffs. "What, you don't think I know what I'm doing? The Swizz has this aaaaaaall under control." he says smugly.

"Yeah, because you _always_ have things under control, don't you?"

"Pretty much."

"You're an idiot."

* * *

During Twister, they were _literally_ put into an awkward position. Then, they were forced to play a bunch of board games that they haven't played in years. It was pointless and they don't see a point in staying. If they want to play board games, they can do that in the comfort of their own homes without having to scream over loud music just to have a normal conversation.

They've had enough. They want to leave. But, of course, their rides home are still enjoying the party.

They had managed to get out of the loud party room again and are sitting beside each other on the stairs. Vanellope had grabbed some balloons from the party room before they exited, and they're using them now for their own entertainment.

"Hey, Hiro?"

"Yes, Vanellope?"

There is a pause and Vanellope inhales helium from the balloon before she speaks again. When she does, her voice is even higher than before.

"Does this helium make my voice sound fat?" she jokes before the two break into laughter.

Hiro sucks in helium from his own balloon and looks at her. His voice isn't as high-pitched as hers of course, but it's still funny sounding. "No, but it _does_ make you sound like a chipmunk."

"You're one ta' talk! Listen to yourself!" she laughs, the effects of the helium having not faded away quite yet.

"Fine - _I_ sound like a chipmunk, but _you_ sound like a chipmunk on helium."

She laughs again. "I dunno, I k - ah, wait a sec..." she sucks in more helium. "I dunno, I think I kinda sounds like Ariana Grande when she sings a high note."

She demonstrates and (poorly) sings the highest note she can reach.

"Ah! Okay, okay, I get it!" Hiro exclaims. "You're gonna break all the glass in this house!"

They both laugh again, leaning against each other. They're both fairly out of breath from the helium and their consistent laughter.

Taffyta walks over and stands in front of the two, arms crossed over her chest.

"Why, hello, Taffyta!" Vanellope exclaims after inhaling the rest of her balloon's helium. Fake snobbiness lingers in her voice. "What brings you to this lovely staircase this evening?"

"There's one more game you guys have to play." Taffyta smirks.

"Uh," Hiro speaks up. "I don't think so. We've played most of the games at this party already."

"And they all suck." Vanellope adds.

"Yeah."

The blonde rolls her eyes. "If you guys play this game we can leave after."

The two look at each other before looking back at Taffyta.

"Deal."

* * *

They wouldn't have agreed if they knew what the game was. They would have found _some way_ to entertain themselves until the party ends. But they didn't know what the game was, and now that they think about it, they should have asked what the game was before agreeing.

It's too late now.

They sit next to each other in a fairly large circle. In the middle of the circle lays a bottle. And that can only mean one thing:

They're being forced to play _spin the bottle_.

Though she seems calm about it, on the inside, Vanellope is both nervous and planning revenge on Taffyta for tricking her like this. Hiro, on the other hand, is just nervous. He doesn't show it that bad, but it doesn't mean he's not nervous.

The bright side is that they're sitting right next to each other; what are the odds of one of them being forced to spin the bottle and having it land on the person _right_ next to them? Not very likely.

It isn't that they don't like each other. In fact, they both _really_ like each other. However, they never really talk about their feelings towards one another, so for now, they have an unspoken agreement to just stay friends until they're both comfortable enough to confront each other about it.

Hopefully it'll still be like that after this game.

"Alright, Snowanna," someone says, "you go first."

Said girl does, but Vanellope doesn't pay attention. She's paying attention to the floor instead, whilst Hiro picks at his fingernails instead of the game.

"Vanellope!"

Both raven-haired adolescents look up.

"It's your turn!"

Hesitantly, leans forward to reach the bottle and spins it. God, she can't believe she's actually _doing_ this... Taffyta is so dead...

She exhales when the bottle stops on an empty spot that had previously been occupied by someone Vanellope didn't know, but thankfully they had left not too long before her turn. Talk about luck.

"Alright, I think everyone went. I guess that's it?" someone says.

She lets out a sigh of relief again and her heartbeat slows down. It's _over_. She didn't have to kiss anyone, and now she can just go home and sleep. That went so much better than she expected, thankfully.

"Wait!" Taffyta speaks up before anyone stands up. "Hiro, I don't believe you went?"

"W-Well, uh, no, I-I didn't." he stutters, running a hand through his messy hair. "But the game's over anyways, and I'm sure people wanna go play some other games and-"

"No worries. One more spin can't do any harm, can it?" Taffyta questions.

 _Yes_ , Vanellope thinks, _yes, it can._

All eyes are on him and he decides to just suck it up. The sooner he spins it, the sooner it's over, and the sooner he can leave.

Hiro spins the bottle. His heart beats rapidly as it spins. When the bottle stops, so does his heart.

He can't believe it landed on _Jubileena._ She's sitting on the other side of Vanellope and he eyes the redhead. It's not like she's _horrible_ , but he doesn't really know her. Kissing strangers isn't exactly his cup of tea. Jubileena seems very calm about it, though.

Begrudgingly, he leans forwards to kiss her, but is beyond surprised when _Vanellope_ pulls him by his sweatshirt collar and presses her lips against his. They're both tense at first, neither of them expecting this to happen. After a moment, though, they relax into the kiss. They forget that there's a bunch of people around them and that they aren't even supposed to be kissing. For this moment, though, they don't care. It just feels... _right_. Like it's supposed to happen. Like their feelings for each other are admitted through this kiss.

Slowly, they pull away from each other and Vanellope's grip on Hiro's shirt loosens as they gaze into each other's eyes. They're both speechless and frozen as they process what just happened.

Once they're able to look away from each other, they find that everybody else in the circle have disparted and gone back to the party. Vanellope looks back and Hiro, clueless on what to say or do next.

"U-Uh, I-I'm-I'm..." she looks around nervously and backs away before standing up. "I-I don't..." she does't bother listening to Hiro. Instead, she absentmindedly rushes towards the exit and her legs carry her outside into the open air.

* * *

Vanellope paces back and forth. She can't believe she just _did that!_ She's feeling so many emotions; She's a little glad that she did that, but she's also confused. What came over her? Why did she butt in like that and kiss him? She's also worried about what Hiro thinks. What if he doesn't like her that way? What if he actually wanted to kiss Jubileena? What if this is all a mistake that is going to end up ruining their friendship?

"Van?"

Vanellope is snapped out of her thoughts. The ravenette turns around with a nervous smile. "H-Hiro! Hiro, hey, h-hey, Hiro..." she mentally slaps herself for being so nervous. It's very unlike her. "Look, I'm-I'm really sorry about that, I don't know what came over me and -"

Hiro cuts her off, this time being the one to press his lips against her. Butterflies return to Vanellope's stomach. There it is, that feeling again. The feeling that just makes her _melt_ , the feeling that makes her able to focus on Hiro and the sensation of their lips together.

"...I'm guessing you _intended_ on doing that, considering I don't see any bottles near us." she jokes once their lips parted.

"I did," he laughs and looks into Vanellope's hazel eyes. "Apparently everyone playing spin the bottle planned this whole thing. They knew we'd become a thing eventually, so they needed to give us a little push. At least, that's what Taffyta said."

She raises an eyebrow. "They planned it? How did they know it would work?"

"I have no idea, but I guess it all worked out in the end." he shrugs.

Silence. Not awkward silence this time though; more like silence that allows them to enjoy each other's company and the fact that this is actually happening.

"Well?"

Hiro looks at Vanellope. "Well what?"

She takes a step back and crosses her arms across her chest. "Are you gonna _properly_ ask me out or are you just gonna stand there looking like a moron?"

Normally, he'd defend himself with something along the lines of, 'Hey, I'm not a moron!', but decides against it. He smiles instead. "Vanellope," he begins, feigning seriousness in his voice, "finally, after admiring you for so long, will you do me the honor of being my amazing girlfriend?" he finishes with a mock bow to top it off.

"Sure, why not?"

"Oh, just ruin the mood why don't you?"

She laughs and hugs him, resting her head on his chest. "But there's one condition."

"And that is...?"

"You can't complain when I beat you at Mario Kart anymore."

He scoffs. "You mean when you _cheat_ at Mario Kart?"

"I don't cheat!" she looks up at him and can't help but smile.

"Yeah, you do!"

"Nu-uh!"

"Yeah-huh!"

"Nope!

"Hmph. I guess we'll have to test my theory of you being a cheater, then?"

She smirks. "I guess so."

"Fine. My house tomorrow night. I'll order pizza."

"You want our first date to be eating at your house while playing Mario Kart?"

Hiro shrugs. "Yeah, why not?"

Vanellope smiles contently. "This is the start of a beautiful relationship."


	8. Vanilla Twilight

**A/N: I have a headcanon that Vanellope loves to stargaze because of lyrics in 'When Can I See You Again?': "Switch on the sky and the stars glow for you." And I saw this prompt about your otp stargazing so I was like aaay I've got to write this.**

 **Anywho, like most fics, they're around 18-20 in this fic.**

 **Also, _please review_! I haven't gotten reviews on this yet and I just want to know if you guys like this and want me to continue posting one shots here or not. Even if you don't like it, let me know. Leaving a review would really make my day and give me better idea of what you guys think!**

 **Enjoy! c:**

* * *

"Can you uncover my eyes already?"

"Nope, not yet!"

Vanellope groans. He's been behind her covering her eyes with his hands while they walk for what feels like hours now. In reality, it hasn't even been more than five minutes. However, she's curious. Hiro says that he's taking her somewhere special and that he has to cover her eyes because he wants it to be a surprise.

It's around seven o'clock and the sun is just starting to go down. Usually at this time of day, Hiro and Vanellope are either hanging out at the cafe or out somewhere like the arcade or something like that. Why he's doing something 'special' for her today, she has no idea. He doesn't usually mind them just relaxing at home…

"Okay, just a few more steps," Hiro mutters, snapping Vanellope out of her thoughts. "aaaand… open your eyes!"

As soon as Hiro removes his hands, she opens her eyes. She didn't know what she was expecting, but it wasn't _this_.

They're standing at the top of a hilly area that overlooks almost all of San Fransokyo. Yeah, it's nice, but she doesn't get what's so special about it.

"A hill. That we're standing on." she says and looks at him, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "How romantic. So special."

"Okay, okay, I admit, it doesn't look like much. But just wait until the sun goes down, and it'll be worth it. Trust me."

Vanellope raises an eyebrow at him before sighing. "Alright, fine. You better not be wasting my time, Hamada."

Hiro nods. They both sit right next to each other and Hiro puts his arm around his girlfriend's shoulder, to which she gladly leans into. Having to wait is killing both of them, but hopefully they won't have to wait too much longer.

"So," Hiro begins, attempting to sound casual. "Remember back when we sat on the roof of your house? Because you said you like to look at the stars?"

"Mhmm."

"Well, why do you like looking at the stars?" he questions before quickly adding: "I-I mean, not that there's anything wrong with looking at the stars, obviously, but y-y'know. Just curious."

Vanellope notices Hiro's sudden nervous behavior and momentarily raises an eyebrow. However, she quickly brushes it off as nothing and responds to his question. Normally, she isn't as compelling to tell people stories and such, but with Hiro, she feels comfortable with just saying what's on her mind.

"Well," she begins. "back when Ralph first adopted me, I had nightmares a lot about the orphanage and my parents."**

 _More than you already do?_ he thinks, recalling previous nightmares she's told him about***.

"I was always too shaken up to go back to sleep, so after he calmed me down a l'il, Ralph would pick me up and take me outside on the porch. We'd look up at the stars and try to see who could find the most constellations. It always got me back to sleep." she smiles as she recalls the memory. Hiro's still pretty nervous to talk to him alone, but Vanellope knows it's just because he's not as familiar with Ralph's sweet and caring side as she is. "I guess over the years I just grew to love it even more. Whether I can sleep or not, I love looking at the stars. It's just… relaxing, I guess."

Hiro smiles down at her. He loves listening to her talk about things she loves. She always has this genuine smile and glint in her eyes, more than she usually does, when she talks about things she loves. Hiro finds it adorable.

"I know it's kinda dumb and sappy," Vanellope says when Hiro lacks to respond and gives a shrug of her shoulders. "and you're the only one I've ever told about it, really." she punches him, not too hard but not to light, causing him to yelp. "So don't tell _anyone_ about it. Got it?"

"Yeah, I got it, I got it. Geez, I would've gotten it without being punched."

She shrugs and smirks. "Oh, well. Better safe than sorry."

* * *

"No, I'm serious! I can barely even _cross the street_ without Ralph having a heart attack! He's crazy!"

They've been having various conversations as they wait for the sun to go down. Vanellope is currently going on about how overprotective her adoptive father is.

"You know he's just doing it because he loves you and doesn't want you getting hurt." he ignores Vanellope rolling her eyes. He can practically hear what she's thinking. ' _That's cliché._ '

"Yeah, well, I love _you_ , but you don't see me texting you every five minutes to make sure you're okay or not letting ya go out somewhere without a bodyguard." Vanellope is too busy over exaggerating to realize she just low-key told Hiro she loves him. Yeah, they both show that they love each other, but it's a whole different thing when you _say it_.

Hiro looks at her, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. "...Did you jut say that you love me?"

"Yeah." she seems calm about it, like it's nothing, but on the inside she's worried about his reaction.

The messy-haired male looks down at her and smiles, absentmindedly tightening his grip on her. "I-" He looks up at the sky, seeing that it's finally nighttime. They must have been too caught up in their conversations to notice.

"Van, look! This is why I brought you here."

Their previous conversation forgotten, the two look up at the sky. Upon seeing the sky, Vanellope exhales, eyes wide and smile big. She's gazed up at the sky many, many times before, but never has she gotten such an amazing view.

In the mostly clear night sky (they're in San Fransokyo, so of course it's a bit foggy), the stars shine brightly, making the seemingly black sky appear more blue. The moon is where the lightest shades of blue can be seen. The color is still dark, but the moon illuminates more light than the stars can. The sky's mixture of dark blues and blacks accompanied with the light from the stars and moon makes the fog appear almost non existent. Looking up at the millions of stars sprinkled around in the sky gives Vanellope a familiar sense of calmness and comfort.

"How didjya _find_ this place?" she says quietly after being silent for a few minutes.

Hiro shrugs. He is wearing a smirk on his face, amused by the look of awe on Vanellope's face. She loves it even more than he thought she would, much to his satisfaction. "I have my ways."

"Well, whatever ya did, I think you found one of the best places in town."

" _One of_ the best?"

"Yeah. I can't choose between this place and the arcade!"

He laughs. Despite being snarky, independent, and feisty, she still acts like a child. That's one of the things that he loves most about her.

"I love you, too." he blurts aloud.

The ravenette finally looks away from the sky. "Huh?"

"Earlier you told me that you love me," he says, "and... I-I never said it back, so..."

She smiles. "I know you do. Ya don't have to be all awkward about it."

He doesn't say anything, so she continues to speak.

"You've been acting weird all day. What's up with that?"

It's true, and he knows it. He just didn't know that _she_ knows.

Normally, he'd act like everything is okay. But with Vanellope, it's... different. He feels more open. Not much, it'll take some getting used to, but he knows he shouldn't lie to her.

"Uh, hello, Earth to Hiro?"

He scratches the back of his neck as she moves so that she's looking him in the eyes, even though he isn't looking at hers.

"Look, I..." he sighs. "I care about you, Van. A lot, More than I have for anyone else. And, I guess what I'm trying to say is... I don't want to lose you. After I lost my brother way back when, I've just been... _afraid_ of losing other people that I care about. I know, I know, this whole thing sounds stupid, but there it is."

Vanellope shakes her head and leans back onto him and hugs him. "That's not stupid. 'm not good with the whole 'telling others how you feel' thing, either, but just know that I'm not going anywhere, dork. No matter what."

He smiles as they lay in the grass, attention once again focused on the stars in the sky. "I really do love you, Van."

"I know."

* * *

 **A/N: OK THE DESCRIPTIONS ARE SO BAD AND THEY'RE SO OOC AND I'M SORRY THE ENDING WAS SO BAD**


	9. Flour Fight

**A/N: Hey everyone! So, I got a request/suggestion from user _BH6FanTadashiIsHere97_. They wanted to know more about Van and Hiro's child from 'Diagnosis'. I didn't get into too much detail about them in that fic because I didn't know if anyone wanted to read about them, but per request, I've decided to write a one-shot or two with them. Mod Cristi and I created two Vaniro baby OCs, so in this oneshot, I'll be introducing their first born.**

 **I got the idea for this fanfic from here: _imagineyourotp. tumblr post/56077273155/imagine-person-a-of-your-otp-making-cupcakes-or_**

 **This fic takes place 3-r years after 'Diagnosis', making their son, Nathan, 3-4 years old. If you want more Vaniro baby OCs, go here: _tadashiamaha . tumblr post/118983757507/folds-hands-together-tell-me-about-these_**

 **Please review! I wanna know what you guys think!**

 **I hope you guys enjoy! c:**

* * *

Since Hiro had grown up with his aunt (who owns the Lucky Cat Cafe, therefore knows how to make amazing pastries), he has actually become very good at baking treats. His aunt taught him many recipes and even as an adult he still enjoys baking some of those treats. Though, ever since his child, Nathan, has been born a couple of years ago, he hasn't had much free time. However, since Nathan is now old enough, he decides to bake some simple chocolate chip cookies with him. Nathan is usually well-behaved, so he doesn't think there should be any issues.

"Alright," Hiro begins. He has just taken out all of the ingredients needed to make the cookie dough (he's baked these treats so many times now that the recipe is practically stuck in his head), as well as sat Nathan down in his chair. Normally, Hiro bakes at the kitchen counter, but he decides that it's both easier and safer if he makes the dough with his child at the table. Not only can Nathan not touch the hot oven, but he can actually reach the table when seated in his chair.

"I know you're excited for cookies, but you need to listen to Daddy while we do this. Okay?" Hiro says to his son, who is practically bouncing in his seat with excitement. He loves to spend time with his parents, and being able to eat cookies soon just makes it even better!

Nathan nods while smiling, his mop of messy, raven hair moving as he does so. He has brown eyes like Hiro's, though he actually looks more like Tadashi when he was his age. The resemblence is uncanny, save for some of his features that look like Hiro's. "'kay!"

"Good," Hiro pulls a bowl closer to them as well as the eggs. "First we have to crack two eggs. But you can't let _any_ shells get in."

He knows that Nathan probably doesn't know anything that he's saying, nor will he remember any of it, but he does seem interested enough.

Hiro does most of the work, of course, but he lets his son help him. With the eggs he places his hands over Nathan's as he cracks the eggs, so to Nathan it seems like _he's_ doing most of the work. Same with pouring in the other ingredients and mixing them together. Nathan is smiling and giggling the whole time, finding this new activity very fun.

It isn't until Hiro, or rather, Hiro _and_ Nathan are almost finished mixing the cookie dough that the front door opens and Vanellope walks through it.

Nathan sees her from his seat at the kitchen table and extends his little arms towards her. "Mama!"

Vanellope is about to respond when she sees the mess on both the kitchen table and Nathan's hands and face. She grins broadly as she walks over, both amused at her husband and son and realizing that they're making _chocolate chip cookies_ , which she loves.

"What're you two knuckleheads doing?" she questions them jokingly, brushing Nathan's messy hair out of his face.

Nathan smiles and holds up his cookie dough covered hands again. "Makin' cookies, Mama!"

"You are?" she exclaims with pretend amazement.

"Uh-huh! Makin' cookies!"

She smiles and Hiro stands up, greeting her with a brief kiss.

"Didjya actually remember to turn the oven on?" Vanellope asks.

" _Of course_ I did!" the confidence in his voice is gone after he peers over her shoulder to see that he, in fact, did _not_ remember to turn the oven on. "...I mean... o-of course I did -...n't."

She snorts. "Surprise, surprise."

Hiro groans and walks past her to turn the oven on. Vanellope bends down to kiss Nathan's head lovingly and then reaches over to the bowl to take some cookie dough. No, she isn't supposed to, but how can someone just not eat cookie dough?

"Mama! No! No, no!"

"What?" she responds, taking a little more cookie cough.

"No cookie, Mama! Stop, cookie!"

His babbled incomplete sentences no longer confuse her. "Mommy's just eating a little bit."

Hiro returns to the table and reaches around her to snatch the bowl. "Uh, no, mommy _isn't_. Mommy's just gonna have to wait until after they're baked." he holds the bowl above her, knowing it's too high up for her to reach. He gives her a look, though they both have a habit of speaking in a "baby voice" around Nathan.

Vanellope looks towards Nathan. "Well, looks like Daddy's being a _party pooper_."

"He is not!" Hiro says and looks at Nathan as well. "Mommy's the one being unfair and eating all the cookie dough."

"Daddy's the one that needs to loosen up a little bit," Vanellope glances at the open bag of flour on the table. "...and have some fun!" she quickly grabs some, throwing it at Hiro's face before he can do anything.

Hiro coughs and waves the flour dust away, though there is a bunch of flour stuck to his face. Vanellope bursts into laughter upon seeing him, causing Nathan to screech with laughter, too. Hiro frowns, and he puts down the bowl and grabs flour as well. He flicks it onto Vanellope's face as she laughs, grinning amusingly.

Both parents, now with flour on their face and in their hair, look at each other, their child's laughter filling the air.

"Oh, it's _so_ on!" Vanellope says. She picks up Nathan out of his chair and grabs more flour and throws it on Hiro's face again. She backs up, still holding a little bit of flour in one hand and holding a giggling Nathan in the other.

"What - That's not fair! I can't throw flour at you with Nathan right there! It'll get in his eyes!" Hiro tries to sound upset, but can't help but laugh.

"Aw, too bad, so sad!" she helps the toddler in her arms grab some flour, and she tells him to 'throw it at Daddy!', to which he obliges. The beeping of the heated oven falls upon deaf ears as the family ensues in throwing flour at one another, their laughter echoing around them.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry this is short and not the best, but I already have an idea for another oneshot that I'm hoping will come out better! It'll be another one with Nathan, but will also intruduce his younger sister.**

 **Please review and lemme know what you guys think of Vaniro baby OCs!**


	10. Not Believing In Stupid Plans

**A/N: Hey, guys! This is an AU where Van's there when they're trying to avenge the man in the mask and when they create Big Hero 6. They're both 14 in this fic.**

 **These were two drabble request that i received on tumblr. See, they sent in a number and each number was a sentence. I got number 70 ("They'll never believe us.") and number 18 ("This is without a doubt the stupidest plan you've ever had. Of course I'm in."), so that's where the chapter title comes from. If you'd like to send in your own, go to this link: _hamada-sisters . tumblr post/125944559445/send-me-a-pairing-and-a-number-and-ill-write-you_**

 **I'm working on a few other oneshots as well, so hopefully I'll finish and post them soon.**

 **Enjoy and pease review, it would mean a lot! c:**

* * *

"Haaaairy baby! Haaaairrry baaabyyy…"

Hiro and Vanellope hear Baymax say as they come up the stairs, each with a plate of hot wings in their hands. Thankfully, Aunt Cass actually believed that Hiro had registered at SFIT and met up with Vanellope afterwards. (Really, Vanellope had bumped into Hiro when he was chasing Baymax around San Fransokyo while on her way to check up on him). Vanellope had been invited to stay over for dinner as well, to which she happily accepted and then followed Hiro up the stairs.

"Does Baymax always act drunk when he has low battery?"

Hiro shrugs and puts his plate down of a nearby nighttable. He's too focused on the warehouse and the guy in the mask. Besides, he hasn't been that hungry lately, anyways.

Mochi jumps out of the healthcare robot's hold and walks over to Vanellope, rubbing against her legs. Vanellope smiles and bends down to gather the cat in her arms.

"Poor thing," Vanellope mumbles as she pets him. Hiro helps a barely functioning Baymax to his charging station as she does so. "I can't believe Hiro just threw you up the stairs!" she says to the cat, though purposefully speaks loud enough for Hiro to hear.

"Not in the mood, Van." Hiro says.

Finally, he manages to get Baymax into his charging station. He walks over to and flops on his bed prior to that. Vanellope looks at him out of the corner of her eye, though continues to hold Mochi.

Hiro lets out an exasperated sigh and examines the single microbot that he has left, the microbot that helped them find the warehouse not too long ago.

"It doesn't make any sense." he thinks aloud.

Vanellope sets down Mochi, who scurries off downstairs. "So, are we gonna ignore what we just saw at that wareh –"

"Tadashi."

The two teens' eyes widen when Baymax speaks, and they both look over at him almost siamotainously. The robot is looking over at Tadashi's side of the room, the room divider open and his bed nice and made with his SFIT hat on top.

Hiro sits. "…What?"

"Tadashi." Baymax repeats.

Vanellope holds her breath. She knows that Tadashi is still an extremely sensitive subject for Hiro. Plus, how does someone explain that someone died to a robot?

She watches him timidly as he gets out of his bed and walks to the other side of the room. "Tadashi's gone." his voice is barely above a whisper and emotionless.

"When will he return?"

"He's dead, Baymax." After taking one last glance at his deceased brother's side of the room, he closes the divider with his head hung low, thick black hair covering the pained expression on his face. But Vanellope knows it's there.

Heck, it's been there since the day his brother died. Despite her many efforts to make him smile, get him out of the house (mostly the bedroom so that he doesn't have to keep seeing Tadashi's stuff), anything to bring his spirits up, it never works for more than a minute.

She misses seeing him smile. She misses seeing him happy.

Baymax is a little confused. "Tadashi was in excellent health. With a proper diet and exercise, he should have lived a long life."

Vanellope wants to facepalm. For a robot who is made to help people, he sure seems to be doing the opposite."

"Yeah, he should have. There was a fire. Now he's gone." Hiro says emotionlessly. He seems tired, drained, like he wants to sleep and never wake up.

He probably does.

"Tadashi is here."

"No, he's not. People keep saying that Tadashi's not really gone as long as we remember him." he plops in his computer chair and gazes downwards. "It still hurts, though."

"I see no evidence of physical injury."

"It's a different kind of hurt."

"You are my patient. I would like to help."

Hiro turns his chair around so that he's facing the wall. "You can't fix this one, buddy."

Vanellope walks beside Hiro and places her hand on his shoulder. He doesn't need to look at her to know what she's thinking, though. _I'm still here for you._

Whilst Hiro isn't paying attention, Vanellope hears sounds and turns around to face Baymax. "Uh, what is he doing?"

Hiro spins his chair around, wondering the same thing. Baymax's hand is on the computer and both the computer screen and the screen on Baymax's torso are flashing.

Baymax looks at the two. "I am downloading a database on: personal loss." he explains. He removes his hand from the computer and both screens stop flashing. "Treatments inclue: contact with friends and loved ones." he looks at Vanellope. "Though one is already here, I will contact more now."

Pictures of Honey Lemon, Gogo, Fred, and Wasabi appear and then just as quickly disappear. Hiro jumps out of his chair and tries to stop Baymax from contacting them, but it's too late. "Your friebds have been contacted."

Hiro groans. This is not what he wants. "Great." he says sarcastically.

Vanellope pauses, an idea coming to mind. "Hiro, wait… This _is_ great!"

"What?!" he exclaims. "No! No, it is _not_ great!"

"Yes, it is! Hiro, they can help us with the guy in the mask!"

Hiro stares at her with wide eyes. "You're kidding me, right? _They'll never believe us._ "

"What are we s'posed to do then? Go after the man in the mask my ourselves since you're too stubborn to face them?"

"Woah, woah, woah!" Hiro shakes his head. "Who says we're going after the guy in the mask?"

"I say that! It can't be that hard; we go back to the warehouse – more prepared – and we destroy the microbots. Or the neurotransmitter thingy. Whichever comes first."

It's been a minute now that he's been starting at her like she's gone crazy.

Probably because she _has_.

(inserting the other fic here since it flows right in)

"Well? Are ya gonna stand there and look like an idiot or are you gonna say something?"

He looks at her, his bewilderment still evident on his face. Out of all the ideas she's had, out of all the plans they've ever made, _this_ is by far the craziest.

"Look, I'm usually all for your crazy ideas, but… _going after the man in the mask?_ By _ourselves?_ That just tops all the other ideas you've ever had."

The fourteen year old rolls her eyes. "We won't do it by ourselves, dummy. We've got Baymax!"

"Tsh. You're right, that's _sooo_ much better. What was I thinking? A giant inflatable marshmallow will definitely help us catch some crazy guy in a mask with a bunch of microbots."

Vanellope doesn't want to say this, but… "Do ya wanna get back the guy who stole your microbots and caused the fire, or not?" she sighs. "What other choices are there?"

Hiro thinks for a second. He hates to admit it. As crazy as her idea is, it's probably the best plan they have.

But he has to do _something_ … for Tadashi.

" _This is without a doubt the stupidest plan you've ever had._ " he pauses. " _Of course I'm in._ "

Vanellope smirks. "Good."

"But first," he turns to face the robot that's charging at his charging station. "Baymax is gonna need some upgrades.

* * *

 **A/N: I actually had a few other drabble requests that I was debating whether or not to post them here or not. Let me know in the reviews and let me know if you'd like me to post them?**


	11. In Need of More Comfort

A/N: This was an idea/request from _BH6FanTadashiIsHere97_ on . This is kind of a continuation of 'In Need of Comfort', but not really... It's more of a similar plot, I guess? Hence the chapter title. I actually wrote and posted the first part of this on tumblr a while back, but I changed things around and added a different ending. I like this version a lot better, tbh.

Like in most Vaniro fics I write, they're 18-20 years old in this fic.

Also, be sure to read the author's note at the bottom, as well!

Enjoy! c:

* * *

Vanellope hasn't seen Hiro in a few days. She doesn't know why she's so worried about him; she knows very well why she hasn't seen him, or why _anyone_ hasn't seen him for that matter. His friends had told that they haven't seen him during or after school in a few days, just like Vanellope herself hasn't either. She doesn't blame Hiro for not going out, though.

After all, his brother's birthday is today. Birthdays are supposed to be happy, but how happy can one be on the birthday of their _dead_ family member?

Exactly.

Despite it being the fourth year Hiro has been through without his brother, it still hurts. Vanellope may not understand exactly how he feels, but she does know how upset he is. She left him alone the past few days, give or take a few texts and phone calls that went ignored. However, it pains her to think that he's isolating himself out of sorrow. Even if he doesn't want her there, Vanellope wants to make sure that he's okay. It's the least she can do.

Vanellope reaches a stop light and sighs. It's raining, hard. Thankfully, her Uncle Ralph doesn't need his car today and she can use it. If he needed it today, she would be walking in the rain instead of driving.

Soon enough, Vanellope arrives at the Lucky Cat Cafe. As soon as she turns the car off and opens the door, she runs as quick as she can to the entrance of the cafe. She opens the door and, thankfully, didn't get too wet from the rain.

She takes a quick glance around the cafe. It's nowhere near as crowded as it usually is. In fact, it's practically empty, give or take several people.

The ravenette looks towards the woman walking towards her.

"Hey, Cass," Vanellope greets as she takes a few steps towards her. "You doing alright?"

Cass smiles sadly and nods. She knows that Vanellope knows about the Hamadas' situation. After knowing each other for so long, it'd be weird if Vanellope didn't know about it.

"I'm alright, Van, thanks." she ties an apron on, an indication that she's probably going to be baking some more sweets in a few. "Are you looking for Hiro?"

Vanellope can tell that Cass is putting on a brave face, but she isn't going to press on it.

"Yeah."

"He's in his room," Cass replies. "You can head on up there. If you need anything, you know where to find me." she says as she heads back into the kitchen.

Vanellope heads towards the back of the cafe and makes her way up the stairs. She's a little nervous to see Hiro. She's not very good at comforting people, even people she's close to.

It doesn't take her long at all to get to Hiro's room. She knocks softly at the door. To no surprise, there's no answer. She knocks again, but this time she opens the door as she does so.

"Hiro?"

"Over here..." comes a scratchy response.

Following the familiar, husky voice, she finds herself in front of the divider that still separates Hiro and Tadashi's side of the room. Though Tadashi's side is considerably smaller than it was a few years ago, neither Hiro nor Cass have had the heart to get rid of his side completely. Most of the stuff has been moved to the attic, like the bed and dresser and such, but things with the most sentimental value to the two remain there in the corner of the room behind the divider.

Vanellope inhales and pulls aside the divider, finding Hiro sitting on the floor with his back facing her. She takes steps near him and sees that he's holding what appears to be a photo album. Without saying anything, she takes a seat next to Hiro. Hiro doesn't say a word, either, but instead proceeds to wordlessly flip to the next page. Vanellope looks along with him.

On the page there is a picture of a young Tadashi and an even younger Hiro sitting beside one another, Hiro struggling with assembling a robot and Tadashi helping, and on the next page Hiro is sitting on Aunt Cass' shoulders with Tadashi standing in front of her.*

The next several pages are filled with various pictures of Hiro, Tadashi, Cass, and even Mochi. Some are nicely posed family pictures, and others are just silly moments that have been captured on camera. Hiro and Tadashi seem to get older with every page that is flipped.

Finally, Hiro slowly flips to the final page, where two pictures lay. Hiro, Tadashi, and Cass are all in the first picture. Cass is standing on one side of fourteen-year-old Hiro and Tadashi stands on the other side, making bunny ears with his fingers behind his brother's head. In the second picture there's Hiro and Tadashi with their friends, Honey Lemon, Gogo, Fred, Wasabi, all smiling their own unique smiles at the camera.**

"These were the last pictures of Tadashi." Hiro says quietly. "That one was the last family picture." he smiles sadly. "Aunt Cass started this tradition where every year the three of us take a picture... but that was obviously the last time we did that."

Vanellope glances sadly at him. How badly she wants to just hug him and tell him it's okay, that everything will be alright, but she knows she should let him finish.

Hiro rubs his hand over the second photo, blinking a few times. "That was the last picture ever. It was the night of the showcase, just an hour or so before he..." Hiro bites his quivering lip, unable to finish his sentence. "I never should have entered the showcase."

Vanellope raises an eyebrow and plans on questioning him but he speaks again.

"If I didn't enter it, Callaghan never would have tried to take my microbots, there would have been no fire, and Tadashi..." Hiro slams the photobook shut. "Tadashi would still _be here, damn it!_ "

No longer able to bare the frustration and sorrow built up within him, he lowers his head and buries his hands through his hair as tears escape from his eyes.

Vanellope switches positions and sits on her knees closer to Hiro, making no hesitation in hugging him close. His head on her shoulder, he returns the hug gratefully. He doesn't feel the need to hold back his tears with Vanellope, so he doesn't. As much as it pains her to see him in such emotional pain, she doesn't mind it. She prefers he let his emotions out than hold everything in.

She knows very well what happened at the showcase. She was only thirteen at the time, and obviously they weren't dating back thing, but they were good friends. She was there for him through it all.

"It's not fair, Van." Hiro mumbles between sobs. "He should have been the one to graduate from SFIT. _He_ should have been the one to do updates on Baymax. _He_ should be the one that's alive."

 _He shouldn't have been the one that had to help._

Vanellope looks down at Hiro. While she knows she should let him say whatever he needs to, she can't let this thought go. "...Are you implying that _you_ should have been the one who died, Hamada?"

He lifts his head but avoids her stern gaze, ignoring her question. "He had a future, Van. He wanted to help people and was going to do just that. All I wanted to do was go bot fighting and mess around."

She takes that as a yes. Normally, she'd have lost her patience by now. But she keeps her cool with him. "But tell me: what _did_ you do with your future? Where are you now?"

He shrugs, defeated.

"You're helping people." she tells him, wiping tears from his face. "You're doing just what he wanted to, just in your own way."

"But..." he struggles to tell her what he wants to. The words he needs to use to describe it are impossible for him to find. "But it's... It's just... It's different, Van... and he..."

Another sob racks through his body and he looks down again.

"Hiro, you know that if he had to choose between you and himself, Tadashi would have chose himself any time."

Hiro shakes his head, his anger rising again. "But he didn't have to! He went in there to save Callaghan for no good reason! He tried to save Callaghan when he planned the whole thing, and where does it get him? Dead!"

Vanellope holds him close again, quietly shushing him in hopes of calming him down. She's never one to deal with emotions, especially other peoples'. It's just not something that she's good at. But Hiro manages to bring out a side of her that even she never knew about.

"I... I know, Hiro. I'm sorry." She can't talk him out of how he feels. All she can do is listen.

He holds her tight. "I miss him."

She sighs. "I know."

Perhaps talking positively about his brother would make him feel better. She sees Mochi out of the corner of her eye, laying in front of one of the boxes on Tadashi's side of the room. "Remember the time when you put those flying boot things on Mochi? And you and Tadashi accidentally let him fly through the cafe while it was open?***" Vanellope recalls Hiro telling her about that way back when.

Upon hearing his name, the lazy cat stretches and walks to where the two are sitting and rubs against Hiro's legs. Hiro opens his eyes and sadly smiles as he pets Mochi. "Yeah. Aunt Cass was so mad at as." he can't help but let out a short laugh. "We had to clean up the things that Mochi broke in the cafe."

Vanellope smiles and runs her hand through his hair. Finally, she got him to smile at least a little bit. Good thing Mochi is in the room.

He discusses other things about his older brother. The inventions they used to build, how crazy overprotective he was over him, things like that. Vanellope listens and sits there with him. She doesn't know how much time goes by, but she doesn't mind.

Hiro looks at her. "Uh... Thanks... Thanks for being here with me, Van. I know you don't like dealing with this kind of stuff."

She shrugs. "You don't need to thank me. I'd do anything for you."

* * *

 *** These are actual, canon pictures from various BH6 books**

 **** Also actual, canon pictures from various BH6 books**

 ***** This was actually a deleted scene!**

 **A/N: So on the last chapter, you guys seemed to really like that AU! I'd love to continue it, only I'm not sure how or what you guys would like. Feel free to leave a review if you have any preferences/ideas! Thanks!**


	12. I'm Always With You

**A/N: Welp, I'm back with another drabble!** **This one is also a drabble request that I received on tumblr. They sent in a number and each number was a sentence, and it has to be incorporated in the drabble. This one is number 14 ("Hey, I'm with you, okay? Always."), so that's where the chapter title comes from. If you'd like to send in your own, go to this link: _hamada-sisters . tumblr post/125944559445/send-me-a-pairing-and-a-number-and-ill-write-you_**

 **Please enjoy and review!**

* * *

"Ow! Hiro, stop it! I'm fine."

"No, you're not. Now stop moving and it won't hurt as much."

Vanellope crosses her arms and pouts, clearly upset. And in pain.

Yet again, Vanellope had gotten into a fight with Taffyta at school. She'd been waiting for Hiro, who told her he had no classes that afternoon so he would come and walk home with her, when the trouble had begun.

* * *

Taffyta had approached her, her dumb little posse trailing behind, and started talking to her. It's like she was trying to pick a fight with what she was saying.

"Knock it off, Taffyta!" Vanellope had exclaimed, trying to prevent anything extreme from happening.

Taffyta had smirked then, pleased with her success at upsetting the ravenette. "And if I don't?"

Vanellope stepped closer, hands balling into fists at her sides. Thankfully there hadn't been too many students on campus, or else a circle definitely would have surrounded them.

"If you don't you'll _regret_ it."

"Ooh, I'm so scared!" Taffyta exclaimed in mock fear before laughing. "A _mistake_ like you wouldn't want to mess with me. Or _you'll_ be the one regretting it."

Vanellope paused. "If you call me a mistake one more time…"

"What? Do you not like being called a _mistake?_ But it's what you are, so it's only appropriate."

That's what crossed the line. She'd been called a mistake more than enough times as a child; and she wasn't going to let someone, especially Taffyta, call her that again.

Without any thought, she'd swung her fist, hitting Taffyta square in the nose. Taffyta had stumbled back, flabbergasted by what had happened.

But she fought back. _Harder._

That's when Hiro showed up, finding his girlfriend and her enemy throwing punches at each other and almost bringing the other to the ground. While Candlehead and Rancis tried to pull Taffyta back, Hiro tried to pull Vanellope back.

"Don't," Vanellope yelled, trying to break free of Hiro's grip. " _ever_ call me a mistake again!"

" _Mistake!_ " Taffyta yelled back in spit.e of her

Vanellope thrashed even harder in Hiro's grip, yelling things at Taffyta until she'd been dragged away by her friends.

Vanellope had still tried to escape Hiro's grip, but he didn't let her go anywhere, and held her by her shoulders. She finally stopped thrashing and looked at Hiro, breathing heavily. The look on her face broke his heart.

Her nose was bleeding and there was a red mark around her eye, that without a doubt will turn into a black eye. She'd probably have a few more bruises, too. He looked into her glossy, hazel eyes, tears threatening to fall from them. Whether they were from the pain, frustration, insults, all of those factors, Hiro had no clue. Damn, if he'd just walked a little bit quicker…

"C'mon," he finally sighed, reaching into all his pockets until he found a tissue (he was surprised that he'd actually found one) and wiped the blood from her face before making her hold it to her nose. "let's go." he grabbed her backpack, slung it over his shoulder, and they were off.

* * *

Now they're at Hiro's house. Aunt Cass is working down in the cafe, so he managed to get her upstairs quickly without any questions. Yet.

Hiro rolls his eyes at Vanellope's stubbornness. She's sitting at the kitchen table with a first aid kit next to her. Without saying anything, Hiro had begun to aid her injuries right after they arrived.

"I don't need to be babied. It's just a bruise." she says quietly.

"Do you want to look in the mirror and see otherwise?" Hiro asks sarcastically. "Now hush."

She finally does as asked save for the occasional whine of pain.

"Sorry, sorry." Hiro apologizes for the umpteenth time, currently aiding at the cut on the side of her face. He makes a mental reminder to get her an ice pack when he finishes.

Other than that, it's very quiet. Hiro decides to speak up now.

"So," he begins. "do you want to tell me what all of that was about?"

"No." Vanellope mumbles.

"Let me rephrase that: tell me what all of that was about."

Vanellope gazes downward as he focuses on her black eye. "She was being a jerk so I punched her."

"She's always a jerk, Van," he responds. "why did you punch her this time but no other times."

She hesitates. She doesn't want to say anything, but… "She called me a mistake."

He doesn't say anything.

"And the kids at the orphanage* used to call me that."

Now he understands.

She hates talking about things that had to do with the orphanage. The only other time she'd talked about it around him was when she was finally ready to tell him about it. She had been afraid of him judging her for her past, but of course, his opinion of her didn't change whatsoever. The only thing that did change was his protectiveness of her; he vowed then to never let her get hurt emotionally or physically like that again, but if it did for whatever reason, then to be there for her. It seems ridiculous, but he cares about her too much to not make such a vow.

Vanellope swallows before begrudgingly continuing. "And I wasn't gonna let her get away with it like everyone else used to! I stood up for myself and she deserved it." she finishes, biting her bottom lip. _Don't cry,_ she chastises herself, _don't start crying_. "I tried not to start anything, 'cause I knew you 'nd Ralph would be upset, but... I just couldn't let her get away with it this time, Hiro."

"...Okay." Hiro says, closing the first aid kit. "I understand."

She looks up at Hiro as he puts it away and heads to the freezer to grab an ice pack for her. "You do? You're not upset?"

He shrugs. "Of course I'm upset; but I'm not upset at you specifically." he explains, kneeling in front of her and gingerly holding the ice pack to her bruised and swollen eye. "I'm upset that you'll get in trouble with Ralph when you see him, and I sure as _hell_ am upset with Taffyta for even starting anything." he explains as Vanellope holds the ice pack and he puts his hand down. He pulls up a chair and sits in front of her. "And I hate that you had to get hurt like that, both emotionally and physically. - But I understand that you had to stand up for yourself."

Vanellope gives him a small smile. "Thanks. I just... don't want you to think any less of me 'cause of all this stuff. I never had a lot of people there for me 'cause of it, and I don't want you to be one of them." she hesitates before saying, "I just can't lose you."

Hiro grins and holds her hand. God, he loves this girl.

" _Hey_ ," he tilts his head down and looks her in the eyes. " _I'm with you, okay? Always_."

They're silent for a moment, before Vanellope smiles. Actually _smiles_ her special smile that Hiro loves so much.

"Tsh," she scoffs. "don't be such a _sap_."

* * *

 ***Like in my other oneshots, she'd lived at an orphanage for pretty much her whole life before Ralph adopted her at age nine.**

 **Sorry if this is kind of OOC! I hope it's okay, nonetheless.**


	13. Happy Birthday

**A/N: For day 6 of Vaniro Week, 'birthday', as well as tadashiamada (from tumblr)'s birthday today! Happy birthday bb!**

 **Like always, they're 18-20 in this fic.**

 **Enjoy! c:**

* * *

She is woken up by the bright sun shining through the window. It's probably not that late, so if today was like any other day, she would go back to sleep.

But today isn't just any other day. Unless you count celebrating your eighteenth birthday an everyday thing.

Vanellope yawns and stretches before smiling. She can smell breakfast from the kitchen; no doubt Ralph is making a special breakfast for her, just like he does every year.

After getting out of bed, Vanellope quickly changes into her casual attire (since she knows that she'll be going out at one point or another today) and then proceeds to bound into the kitchen. While she's always very cheery and happy, it's odd for her to be just that in the morning right after waking up.

"Look who finally decided to wake up!" Ralph says as she sits as the table.

"Sorry I don't like waking up before the sun even comes up like a certain stinkbrain I know." she exaggerates and sits down at the kitchen table.

"Keep up the attitude and I'll think twice about giving you your birthday present."

"What? No fair! You wouldn't not give me my birthday present."

"Try me."

Both try to keep up the angry demeanor, but can't help but laugh.

Ralph places Vanellope's breakfast in front of her, along with her birthday present. "Happy birthday, kiddo. Open it up."

Vanellope does just that, carelessly ripping the wrapping paper as she does so. The present is a picture frame with two slots for two different pictures; the first photo frame contains a picture of her and Ralph from back when Ralph had first adopted her. The second frame has a much more recent picture of the two, one that was taken only months ago. Vanellope grins broadly; her past birthday presents have been things like toys, video games, skateboards, stuff like that. While she loves those types of presents the most even as an eighteen year old, she loves this present just as much.

"Aaaw, I was so cute! And you were so... how do I put this nicely..." she trails off jokingly, shooting a smirk in his direction.

He raises an eyebrow, clearly unamused.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding! Thanks, Ralphie. Really."

"You're welcome."

Once they almost finished their breakfast, Ralph brought up a different topic

"So," he begins, trying to sound casual. "I know that I told you I got the day off from work today, but—"

"But too many people are already out today so you _have_ ta' go to work." Vanellope finishes. It's not like this is the first time this has happened.

Her guardian sighs and nods. "I'm sorry, kiddo. I know how special today is for you."

Vanellope shrugs. She'd be lying if she said that she isn't at least a little disappointed, but she knows that she'll see him after work. "It's fine. I'll just hang out at the café or something 'til you get back. No biggie." she shovels the last morsel of food on her plate into her mouth and then stands up. "I'm s'posed to head over there now, actually." she slips on her shoes and gives Ralph a quick hug. She's about to leave when Ralph stops her.

"Wait a second," he says, "we need to talk first."

Oh, great...

"Look, Van. You're eighteen; from now on you're a legal adult. And that means that you can legally... do things. You can vote, live on your own..." he trails off.

Vanellope groans, knowing full well where this is going. "Ralph -"

"I just want you to know that now that you're an adult and can technically do whatever you want," he gives her a look, as if to say 'you can legally do whatever you want but don't', "I trust you and know that you'll do what's right."

Vanellope doesn't speak. She certainly hadn't been expecting him to say that. She thought it was going to be this whole talk on responsibility and such.

"Thanks, Ralphie. I promise, I'll be responsible." she gives him one last hug. "I'll see you later!"

* * *

There aren't many people in the cafe, but Cass and Hiro aren't any of them. She looks around and, surprisingly, sees her friends Taffyta (Tiffany) and Candlehead (Candace) sitting and talking with the 'nerd gang'. It's weird seeing her friends and Hiro's friends talking. Hiro isn't even with them.

Now that she thinks about it, _why_ are they talking?

Before Vanellope can even walk over to them and question them, they spot her and erupt into a mix of 'hey's, 'hi's, and 'happy birthday's. Her toothy grin returns to her face as she walks towards them.

"Thanks, guys," she responds. "What're you all talking about?"

Again, they all burst into a bunch of, 'nothing's and 'it's not important!'s. Save for Fred, who then says, "Oh, we're talking about Hiro's plans for— ow!"

Everyone except for Honey Lemon and Candlehead gives him a glare, and then he realizes that what they're talking about is a secret. Whoops.

"Oh, right! We're not talking about anything!" Fred says quickly, causing Vanellope to give him a strange look.

"Hiro's plans for what?" she questions.

"For… for his, ah…" he is cut off by Honey.

"For his newest invention! Yeah, we saw the blueprints, but we don't want him to find out. You know Hiro, wanting to keep his inventions private until they're ready for the world to see!*"

"Yeah!" Fred agrees and everybody nods quickly to show that they agree as well.

"O-kaaaaay…" she decides to drop the topic and looks around the caféagain. "So, uh, where's the brainiac?" she doesn't need to explain who she's talking about. "He told me to meet him here."

Most of them shrug, but Gogo just chews on her strawberry flavored gum. "Does anyone ever know where he is?

"Touché."

Vanellope pulls up a seat and joins them at the table. They talk for a few minutes before Vanellope's vision is blocked and the words "Guess who." are spoken.

Vanellope smirks, despite her conversation being interrupted. "Hm… Is it a know-it-all brainiac who graduated high school at thirteen, yet considering he's ten minutes late, he still seems unable to tell time despite being nineteen now?"

"Nope. And I can tell time, thank you very much. Try again."

"Oh, oh, I know!" Fred suddenly exclaims from across the table. "Is it… a—"

"You can see him, genius." Gogo interrupts. "And if anyone here can't recognize his annoying voice by now, I'd be pretty surprised."

"What, is it 'everybody pick on Hiro' day or something?" Hiro asks and removes his hands. Vanellope looks up at him as he stands behind her chair.

"No, it's an even special-er day."

"Special-er?"

"Yeah, special-er. It's so special that I had to make up a work to express how special it is."

"Oh yeah? Then I guess it can't be your birthday if that's the case." he teases.

Vanellope elbows him in the stomach which causes him to let out a yelp of pain.

"Okay, I take it back," he manages to say.

Gogo rolls her eyes and interjects. "She didn't even hit you that hard. Woman up."

"Thanks for that, Gogo." he mumbles and pulls up a chair next to Vanellope. "Alright, so, I know I told you that I had a very special day planned for you. - And I did, really!"

Vanelloe raises an eyebrow. "But…?"

"…But I'm gonna have to cancel our plans." he says quickly, wincing at what her reaction will be.

"You're kidding me right? Why?"

"Because I…" Hiro pauses. "…I, uh, have to… study for an exam!" he exclaims all of a sudden. "And everyone's here because they said that they'll help me study. I didn't ask you since it's your birthday and all, and who wants to study on their birthday?"

"You can hang out with us, though!" Candlehead exclaims as if on cue. Vanellope can't quite put her finger on it, but everybody seems to be acting rather… tense. Nervous. Maybe even suspicious.

She glances around at the group, taking note of their nervous smiles and frantic nodding. What is going on?

"Why are you guys acting so weird?" she sighs. "Never mind, don't answer that. Hiro," she faces him. "can't you just study tomorrow? You can't just cancel right before we're s'posed to go out! Especially on my _birthday_

"I know, I know, but this exam is really important and I haven't studied for it at all. I'm really, really sorry, Vanny. I promise I'll make it up to you."

Vanellope huffs and tucks stray strands of hair behind her ear, unable to express how upset she is. First Ralph can't get the day off from work, and now Hiro cancels his plans for her birthday? To study for a dumb test on something that he probably already _knows about?_ It's selfish, but this seems so unfair to Vanellope.

Whatever. She can't do anything about it. Besides, Taffyta and and Candlehead said that they'll hang out with her. Might as well make the best of her birthday without Ralph and Hiro. "You owe me, numbskull." she tells Hiro.

"C'mon, Van!" Candlehead interrupts joyously before Hiro can respond. Her and Taffyta waste no time and they practically pull her out of her seat before she has the chance to even say goodbye to everyone (and give her boyfriend one last annoyed glare. "We'll still have fun!"

Then Vanellope is pulled out of the café as well, despite her protests. As soon as the door closes, Hiro springs out of his chair. He feels bad for disappointing her, but he knows that he'll make it up to her with:

"Operation: Surprise Birthday Party is now a go. Let's get started!"

* * *

"We've been walking for forever! If we can't take the trolley, can you at least tell me where we're going?!"

Taffyta doesn't seem to pick up on Vanellope's irritated attitude. If she did, though, she sure doesn't seemed bothered by it. Neither does Candlehead.

"We already told you," the blonde responds. "we're taking you shopping."

"Shopping _where?_ And I don't even like shopping." she grumbles.

"You'll seeeeee!" Candlehead tells her in a sing-songy voice.

"I don't even have my wallet."

"It's your birthday so it's our treat. Duh." says Taffyta.

After a few more minutes of walking, they arrive to their destination. Vanellope cringes.

" _Pink Lightening?_ ** Isn't this store kinda..."

"Awesome?" Candlehead interjects.

"Magical?" Taffyta smirks.

"Pretty?"

"Amazing?"

Vanellope looks from the store back to her friends. "Expensive and girly."

"Yes and yes," Taffyta takes hold of both of her friends' hands and pulls them into the store with her. "And like I said, it's our treat, and you need to get a nice dress or two. Maybe some shirts or something, too."

The ravenette rolls her eyes. Of course Taffyta can afford coming to this place; her family is practically rich. Besides, this place just screams 'Taffyta'. The floors are sparkly, as are a majority of the clothes, and the walls are a cotton candy pink color. There's some jewelry, makeup, hair products, and a ton of clothes. Some of the clothes are frilly, some have lace, others are fluffy, and many are light pastel colors, if not pink. To top it all off, there's an overwhelming scent of fruity perfume in this place.

It's all so... _girly_.

Now Vanellope really wishes she could have hung out with Ralph or Hiro.

"Oh, look!" Taffyta's squeal pulls her from her thoughts. Taffyta is holding up a knee length dress that is various shades of pink. Below the bust are several layers of ruffles, each their own shade of pink. "This is perfect for you, Van!"

"Oh no," Vanellope shakes her head and crosses her arms. "nuh-uh. There is no way I'm gonna try on that pink piece of..."

* * *

"...crap."

Vanellope groans as she looks in the mirror. Candlehead and Taffyta had picked at least a dozen dresses - each - for Vanellope to try on, on top of skirts and shirts and even a couple pairs of shoes. She knew that her friends wouldn't shut up until she tried on all of them, so she thought might as well. Halfway through the pile of clothes, Vanellope stopped paying attention to what she put on, wanting this to just be over with. However, she took a quick glance in the mirror before showing the other girls her dress. And that was when she realized: Taffyta and Candlehead had slipped in that fluffly and ruffly pink dress from earlier that she hates. Seeing that she fell for it and is currently wearing said dress makes her face palm.

"You almost done, Van?" she hears Candlehead ask from the other side.

The annoyed birthday girl opens the door and stands there. "I hate you guys."

They suddenly erupt into cheers and squeals.

"I told you it's perfect!" Taffyta says.

"You have to get it!" Candlehead agrees.

Vanellope rolls her eyes. "I don't want this dress. You guys know that I hate pink. And frilly stuff. And this dress."

"Awww, c'mon, Vanny!" Candlehead pleads, sticking out her lower lip. "It's so pretty!"

"Don't gimme that look, Candles. It's not gonna work."

Taffyta, who had apparently walked off for a brief moment, holding another dress in her hand.

"What if I told you that it comes in mint green?"

* * *

As they finally walk out of Pink Lightening with a couple of bags that contain various articles of clothing, Vanellope pulls her phone from her pocket. According to Taffyta, they still have more stores to go to. She doesn't know where they're headed now, but hopefully it's not another store like the one they were just at.

She unlocks her phone and sends a text to Hiro.

 _text; to: My Hiro ❤  
 **remember when i told you that you owe me?**_

After a minute or so of walking, she gets a reply.

 _text; FROM: My Hiro ❤  
 **Yeah?**_

 _text; to: My Hiro ❤  
 **then this is gonna sound like déjà vu. YOU OWE ME. DOUBLE.**_

 _text; FROM: My Hiro ❤_  
 ** _Any specific reason why?_**

 _text; to: My Hiro ❤  
 **i'm shopping with tiffany and candace are taking me shopping. and i hate shopping.**  
text; to: My Hiro ❤  
 **are you almost done studying? :/ i wanna hang out at least a little bit today.**_

* * *

Hiro glances down at his phone then back up at the café. 'Studying' isn't coming along too well.

So far, he's gotten some balloons tied up to chairs and tables gathered up in the middle of the café with a green table cloth. He has already hung up a few decorations as well, but not many, since he's been running back and forth.

Cass and Ralph (he actually did get the day off, but planned to come here and help set up for his adoptive daughter's surprise party) are in charge of the sweets; surprisingly, Ralph only two batches of cupcakes! Those had been minor set backs, but not really a surprise. Hiro has been trying to avoid Ralph at all costs, though; he's an intimidating guy and will protect Vanellope at all costs, even if it means keeping his eyes on Hiro at all times. It's nerve wracking.

The rest of Big Hero 6 have been helping as well. They've been helping with decorations and with setting up various things like music and even a piñata.

Even so, they're all still pretty behind. They've had some minor setbacks, such as forgetting to buy some of the decorations, forgetting to buy the paint for the banner, as well as running out of tape and tacks. If that isn't stressful enough, the music isn't working for some reason. And considering how bored Vanellope seems to be, they might be coming back soon. - But they need more time.

He looks back down at his phone.

 _text; to: Schweetie :)  
 **Not yet, but almost. I'll let you know when.**_

He then switches to a different contact.

 _text; to: Tiffany  
 **Things are taking longer than usual. Keep her busy for just a while longer. Take her to the video game store, she'd stay there for hours if she could. I'll tell you when we're ready.**_

* * *

Taffyta's phone buzzes, signifying that she has a text. She sees that it's from Hiro and reads it before forwarding the message to Candlehead. They exchange of confirmation before speaking.

"How about a trip to the video game store?" Candlehead asks in a cheery tone.

Immediately, Vanellope's eyes widen and the corners of her lips pull up and form a smile. "I say let's get a move on!"

"...You're kidding me, right?"

The ravenette gapes at the sign on the door of the video game store: _Closed for renovations until further notice_.

"You're telling me," she continues, "that we walked all the way across town to come here and find out that one of the best places in San Fransokyo is closed?!"

Candlehead bites her lower lip and Taffyta winces at their friends' outburst. They'd made Vanellope go into a few stores on the way there to kill some time and refused to take the trolley as well. Vanellope loves video games, so of course she'd been looking forward to coming here and getting a new game. Seems like all that walking was for nothing.

"That's it," Vanellope faces the two, arms crossed stubbornly. "we're going back to the café, _on the trolley_ , whether Hiro's done studying or not. It's my birthday and I wanna do something that's actually fun."

After she turns around, Candlehead and Taffyta exchange panicked looks. They both know how stubborn Vanellope can be, so trying to change her mind is out of the question. Odd's are, Hiro's probably still setting up some thing for the party.

" _What do we do?!_ " Candlehead whispers.

"Just stall her for as long as we can," the blonde responds as they follow Vanellope. "and I'll text Hiro."

Vanellope can hear their whispers but can't quite make out what they're saying. "What're you guys saying?"

"Nothing!" is their immediate, synchronized reply.

The ravenette looks suspiciously at them. Why do they keep acting so weird?

"What're you guys hiding from me?"

"Nothing!" they repeat.

"You guys stink at lying," Vanellope says, "let's just get back to the café."

Candlehead grabs her wrist to prevent her from walking away. "NO!"

"Why not?!"

"Because..." she looks at Taffyta for help.

Thankfully, she catches on. "...because we're having such an awesome time here and not at the café! So we don't need to go there! Isn't that right, Candles?"

"Y-Yeah! Exactly!"

Vanellope rolls her eyes. "And what if we do go to the café?"

No response.

She smirks. "Then we're gonna go find out. Let's go."

Taffyta stops herself from arguing with her stubborn friend any further. She takes out her phone and quickly sends a text to Hiro.

 _text; to: Hiro  
 **van knows that that we r hiding something and is going back 2 the cafe! we will b there in 15mins!**_

* * *

As Hiro pushes the last tack holding up the birthday banner into place, he feels his phone vibrate in his pocket. Quickly, he steps off of the stool and takes a quick glance around. They still have to set up streamers and finish frosting the cake, but other than that, they're done. They did a good job at setting things up and fixing the speakers in the amount of time that they had, in his opinion.

He nods in satisfaction before pulling his phone out of his pocket and reading at the message.

 _Oh, great..._

"They'll be here in fifteen minutes, guys!" Hiro announces, yelling loud enough so that everyone can (hopefully) hear him. Everyone starts moving around quicker, determined to finish setting up in time.

Except for Mochi, who seems much more interested in the unattended treats and streamers in the room.

* * *

After what seems like forever to Vanellope, they reach their stop and step off the trolley. She makes way for the Lucky Cat Café a few blocks down, but stops when Candlehead steps in front of her.

"Move it, Candlehead."

Candlehead frowns. "Say the magic word."

"The magic word."

Candlehead does not move.

Vanellope rolls her eyes. "Please."

"Please what?"

"Please move!"

"Okay!" she grins and steps to the side. Taffyta hits her arm in disapproval as Vanellope walks by her. "Really, Candles?"

"What? She said please!"

After adjusting the bags of clothes in her hands and rolling her eyes, she quickens her pace and steps in front of Vanellope.

The ravenette groans and rolls her hazel eyes for the umpteenth time. Now they're just being flat out annoying. "Now what?"

"We... still have more places to go to!"

"More places that I don't wanna go to?"

"Well... I mean..."

Vanellope rolls her eyes and pushes past Taffyta. "We're almost at the café already. We're going there, whether you guys want to or not."

Taffyta and Candlehead glance anxiously at each other as they get closer and closer the café. The window blinds are closed, denying anyone access of looking through that windows. They can only hope that everything is set up.

Five minutes. Hiro had been upstairs for _five minutes_. How did this happen in five minutes?!

Streamers have unstuck from the wall and now lay on the floor. Tables and chairs have been moved and knocked over, except for the ones in the middle of the room that are holding the food.

Well, they had been holding the food. Now the tables are holding smushed and ruined food. One of the tables has actually fallen down, resulting in food on the floor as well.

Next to the mess is Mochi and Baymax, part of the mess on them.

Hiro is frozen as he looks around the café. Cass stands behind him in horror at all of her ruined sweets, and Ralph stands beside them, mouth agape. If he weren't so shocked, he'd probably be furious. Wasabi and Gogo are in the corner, staring in shock with scrap streamers in their hands. They had watched the whole thing unfold, but couldn't do anything in time, for Fred had beat them to the task. He was unsuccessful, laying down in a mess of cake that he had slipped on after it'd fallen on the floor.

After taking in the scene before him, Hiro finds his voice. "What... happened?!"

Fred speaks up from his spot on the floor. "Mochi was runnin' around everywhere and Baymax was trying to catch him. Things kept knocking over so I tried to help but, heh..." he smiles sheepishly. "it obviously didn't work that well."

The door opens, and everyone looks up to see a frantic Honey Lemon. "They're almost here! They're-" she trails off as she sees the mess. Her hands cover her mouth in shock. "Oh my gosh! What... What happened?!"

"I just explained the story to everyone," Fred sighs. "but I'll explain it again. See, Mochi w-"

"Woah!"

Of course, Vanellope had entered the scene, Taffyta and Candlehead at her side. While they look absolutely horrified, Vanellope looks shocked, yet happy. She can see the colorful banner that reads 'Happy Birthday Vanellope' beyond the mess, as well as the birthday balloons and various colored streamers that happen to still be in tact.

It's a celebration. For _her_. It's obviously a mess, but... wait, why is it such a mess? This isn't the intended set up, right?

She doesn't question it, not yet at least. Instead everybody else in the room says a meek and embarrassed:

"Surpriiiise..."

* * *

"So, what you're saying is that you two," Vanellope points to Ralph and Hiro, "lied to me about being busy just so you all could throw me a surprise party?" she looks at Taffyta and Candlehead, "And that you guys purposefully dragged me around town all day so that everyone could pull it off?" they nod.

Everyone is sitting in the living room, some on the couch or chairs, others on pillows on the floor, with plates of pizza. They'd ordered pizza and ended up buying snacks and a cake to replace what had been ruined. It's disappointing that no one gets to eat Cass' delicious treats, but she promised to make another cake soon. Not many decorations survived, but they moved the ones that did upstairs.

"Yeeeah," Hiro speaks up from his spot next to Vanellope (which Ralph seems surprisingly calm about, though keeps an eye on them), "and you can kinda guess how it got ruined," his says, talking about the scene she'd walked in upon. "We're really sorry it ended up being such a disaster." Mochi sympathetically rubs against his legs, making him chuckle. "I think Mochi's sorry, too."

Vanellope swallows her bite of pizza and laughs. "Sorry for what? It wasn't intentional, and I still get to hang out with you guys. Honestly, the worst part of today was going shopping with Taffyta and Candlehead."

Everyone laughs, except for the girls of topic.

"Hey, it was pretty fun!" Taffyta argues.

"Trying on a bunch of dresses that looked like a sparkly, pink unicorn barfed on them isn't fun."

"C'mon, give us some credit, V!" Candlehead jokes.

"I am!" she laughs. "I'm giving all of you guys credit. This may not be what you guys planned, but eating pizza and cake and playing video games is a pretty fun way to spend my birthday, in my opinion. Really, thank you, guys."

Ralph shakes his head. He's grateful that she isn't one for extravagant things. "We'll keep that in mind for next year. Glad you're having a good birthday, kiddo."

"Y'know, since I'm eighteen now," Vanellope smirks, "I'm not a kid anymore, so 'kiddo' isn't an appropriate nickname."

Now Ralph smirks. "Would you prefer Baroness Booger Face?"

She shrugs. "Only if you're cool with Major Body Odor."

Laughter then fills the room.

"Alright," Fred speaks up once the laughter dies down. "who's ready to play some video games?!"

Of course, Vanellope blurts out. "Me! I call player one!" she looks at Hiro. "I am _so_ beating you at Mario Kart.

Hiro smirks. "Bring it on, Schweetz."

* * *

Despite the group of people in the house being small, it eventually becomes stuffy and loud from all of the frustrated yelling that comes with playing video games with friends. Vanellope finds herself parting from the hectic party and taking a quick breather on the outside patio***. The crisp, cool night air feels nice as it blows through her face and hair. She leans against the railing and gazes up at the twinkling stars in the night sky above her. Overall, she's had an awesome birthday. She smiles to herself as she thinks about how lucky she is to have people who would do so much for her.

Speaking of people who would do so much for her, Hiro opens and closes the slide door to the patio and joins her. He stands next to her, hands behind his back.

She looks over at him with mixed look of curiosity and amusement. "Whachya got there?"

"Hm? You mean this?" he reveals the small box wrapped in birthday wrapping paper that he was holding behind his back. "It's just for a special person who's birthday is today. Their name also happens to start with a 'V'," he grins slyly. "Do you know anyone that goes by the name 'Victor'?"

After punching his shoulder, she grins and takes the present. "Dork." With no hesitation, she rips the wrapping paper and opens the small box. Inside of it is, as cliché as it is, a heart shaped locket. After opening the locket, she sees that on one side is a miniature picture of them back when they were little, and on the opposite side is a fairly recent picture of the two.

It's sweet and sentimental. Though Vanellope isn't a big fan of jewelry, this necklace is certainly going to become part of her daily attire.

"It's alright if you don't like it," Hiro quickly says from beside her. "but –"

"I love it." for once, she doesn't mind all of the over sentimental presents she received for her birthday today.

He smiles. "You do?"

"I really do. You're such a sap. - Here," she says while grinning and hands him the necklace. "put it on for me?"

After gathering her long, thick raven hair in her hands and holding it up, Hiro does as requested and fastens the locket around her neck. She turns around and faces him then pulls him into a quick, sweet kiss.

After parting, Hiro smiles. "Happy birthday, Vanny."

* * *

 _*Reference to the 'Hiro and Tadashi' book._

 _**Pink Lightening is the name of Taffyta's kart in the movie._

 _***I know that there's probably no patio at the Hamadas', but for now just pretend that there is._

 **A/N: See what I did there with the presents? The two most important people in her life both gave her very sentimental, practically the same thing that shows how they've always been with her and always will be. Cheesy, I know, and it was actually unintentional (becauseIcouldn'tthinkofanythingelsesorry)! But I thought it was cute so I kept it.**

 **Welp, there it is! I hope no one was too OOC and that it turned out okay. Thanks so much for reading, and once again, happy birthday to tadashiamada! I hope you have an awesome birthday bb, because you deserve it and so much more! ilysm!**


	14. New Student

**A/N:** **So Hiro never went to SFIT in this fic, or rather not _yet_ , for whatever reason (the reason of the plot tbh). Y'know, sometime I'd like to write a fic where _Hiro_ is the new kid, rather than Van. It'd be a change.**

 **Anyways, enjoy!**

* * *

This is stupid. Why does she have to go to a new school in the middle of the year? Why couldn't Ralph wait until the end of the year before he made them move? It's not like they moved far, but far enough for Ralph to be closer to his job and for Vanellope to have to switch schools and be a fair driving distance from her few friends. _In the middle of the year. At a school she's never attended before. With people she doesn't even know._

 _Great._

* * *

Vanellope sighs to herself as she continues her walk to school. She doesn't know her way, so she looks at the directions she'd pulled up on her phone quite frequently.

'Why isn't there a bus stop near the house?' Vanellope wonders grumpily as she looks at the directions once more.

* * *

Hiro sighs. Not only is he going to get in trouble for skipping out on 'family night', but for lying, too.

It's Friday, which means tonight is Family Night at the Hamadas'. They usually eat dinner together, watch a movie, and sometimes play board games. Hiro had insisted to Aunt Cass that he has plans, but she wouldn't believe him. And when he said that it was because he was going to be hanging out with a friend that night ('I-It's not anybody you know, so there's no use in telling you who it is.'), she _still_ wouldn't believe him. It's obvious that he was actually going to go to a bot fight. But when he said that he would bring the friend that he was hanging out with to the café before they hang out to prove that he was telling the truth, Cass agreed.

So now he's walking to school, gazing downwards as he ponders what he's going to do. He can either tell his aunt the truth and suffer through family night (it's not that he doesn't wanna spend time with his aunt; he just wants to do something that's _not_ boring, like bot fighting), or he can find someone to act like they know him and that they're going to be hanging out somewhere.

But who?

* * *

Suddenly, right as she looks up, Vanellope bumps into someone, causing her to stumble backwards. With her mind wondering and not looking at where she's going, it's a surprise she didn't bump into something or some _one_ sooner.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" she exclaims after steadying herself. Normally she wouldn't be so harsh, but today she's feeling particularly irritated. Who can blame her with the current circumstances, though?

"I should be saying that to you!" the person she'd bumped into retorts.

The stranger is a few inches taller than her, with hair the same jet black color as hers only way shorter, cut to his ears but still rather bushy.

She doesn't take notice of much else, though, and steps around him and walks away in a huff, causing the stranger to shoot a glare in her direction. She has to get to school; she doesn't have time for this. Yeah, she could have at least said sorry, but it's too late for that now.

* * *

It's only the third period of the day and Vanellope is already regretting not pretending to be sick this morning. So far, she's made it to her classes nearly a second before the bell rang. The amount of 'makeup work' she's been given so far is ridiculous, too. In her opinion, she should just be excused from that work.

Her stress only increases when the late bell rings while she's still talking to a teacher.

"I know it's a lot of work," the teacher (Ms. Mary*, was it?) says, "so I'll give you a week to do it, but please don't put it off to the last minute!"

"I won't." Vanellope responds, trying to be as nice as possible since she's talking to a teacher. "Thanks. Uh, do I need a pass to get to my next class?"

"Did the bell ring already? Goodness, I didn't even notice!" she exclaims. "Oh, I don't think you need one. Just tell your next teacher that I held you up."

Vanellope nods, and with a final thank you and farewell, she heads off to her next class. Calculous. _Fun_.

On top of losing her way around the halls, Vanellope ends up several minutes late.

'Hopefully this teacher isn't strict.' Vanellope thinks to herself and opens the door.

Of course, all eyes fall on her. There's a fair amount of people in the class; there's a girl with platinum blonde hair giving her a look of disgust, another girl with cherry red hair in pigtails who was too busy copying down notes to notice her, a boy with blond hair and freckles**, another boy who –

…Appeared to be the stranger whom she ran into this morning. He still seemed upset with her, what with the curious look that rather quickly turned into a frown. They catch each other's eyes, and don't gaze away until seconds later when the teacher clears his throat.

"Ahem."

Vanellope turns her head towards the teacher then, who goes by Mr. Gene***. At least, that's what it says on her schedule.

"You must be Penelope****." he says after looking at the list of students. "May I ask why you're late?"

Vanellope cringes. She _hates_ her real name. If she wasn't late, at least everyone in the room wouldn't be staring at her. "Uh, yeah, but I go by Vanellope. I was just talking to a teacher and then lost my way is all."

"I see. May I see your pass, then?"

"I… didn't get a pass."

"What teacher are you coming from?"

"Ms. Mary."

The teacher scoffs and shakes his head. "Can't be. She always gives passes to her students." he turns his head back to the board and continues to write the notes on the board. "Go back and get a pass from her."

"But she told me I didn't need a pass. I'm already here anyways."

"And I'm telling you that you DO need one. So go back to her and ask for a pass."

"But I don't –"

"Or you and your attitude can go to the principal's office."

Vanellope pauses, confusion and anger etched on her face. It's her _first day here!_ What'd she do for him to send her to the principal's office?

"Go to the principal's office?" she questions. "For what?!"

"For back talking and interrupting my class!" Mr. Gene exclaims angrily, stopping his note writing to face her. "If I were you, I would listen before you get in even more trouble. Do you understand, Miss. Penelope?"

Vanellope clenches her fists. It's practically impossible for her to keep her snarky remarks to herself right now. "See, I _would_ but I'm not sure where the principal's office is. I wouldn't wanna be late for my newly scheduled meeting with him, huh?"

Her teacher glares at her, but Vanellope merely smirks back. That remark was totally worth it.

"Hiro," Mr. Gene says angrily without breaking his gaze.

Hiro hesitates. Is he in trouble too? All he did was watch the argument like everyone else in the class! "Y-Yes, sir?"

"Would you please show Miss Penelope here to the principal's office? You already know this stuff, so I'm sure you won't miss anything." he says angrily before turning back to the board.

Hiro inwardly sighs as he stands up. "Sure, Mr. Gene." He really doesn't want to do this, especially since this girl he ran into this morning seems to have quite the attitude. But what other choice does he have? Tell an infuriated Mr. Gene _no?_ He's more than smart enough to know not to do something like that.

Vanellope shakes her head. "I'm sorry, what did ya just say?" she questions the teacher with crossed arms. "I didn't understand you. Unfortunately I don't speak moron."

Every person in the room's eyes widen. Is this new kid crazy, talking to a teacher like that?! Even Hiro is shocked. He's not too fond of this teacher either, but he would never say something like that to his face like this girl– what did she say she liked to be called? _Vanellope?_

Hiro, feeling a sudden rush of panic, takes hold of the girl's arm and pulls her out the door before Mr. Gene has time to recover from the shock of being spoken to is such a way by a student. Vanellope seems against being pulled along by him, but doesn't get the chance to protest.

"Are you crazy?!" Hiro exclaims once they're out of the classroom and quickly walking down the hall.

"He was the one being a jerk!" she replies angrily.

"Yeah, he always is, but it doesn't mean you can talk to him like that! That's just asking for a year's worth of detention!"

"Too late for that!"

Hiro stares at her in shock with wide eyes. From what he'a gathered about her so far, she seems rude, short-tempered, and sharp-tongued.

"Look, I know that was a stupid thing to do, but I wasn't gonna take that! He was being ridiculous!"

Hiro doesn't respond.

She sighs. "Okay, I know that I was kinda a jerk too this morning," Vanellope says less angrily in regard to their accidental meeting on their way to school that morning. "but could ya just… back me up when we get to the principal's office? I can tell that you hate that teacher too, and if we both tell the principal about Mr. Gene and how awful he is they'll have to keep us out of trouble!Whaddya say?"

He doesn't speak for a moment. "Keep ' _us_ ' out of trouble? That was all you! And you should've thought about that before you told him off."

"Oh, c'mon, just help me out here! I'll pay you back somehow, I promise."

He wants to look her straight in the eyes and say 'no way!' But she said that she'll pay him back somehow. And he knows just the thing…

* * *

"Aunt Cass, this is the friend I told you about. The one I'm hanging out with tonight. Vanellope, this is my Aunt Cass."

* * *

 **A/N:**

 *** , like Mary from the Penthouse in WiR.**  
 ****The girl is obviously Taffyta (Taffyta's voice actress, as you may know, actually voiced Disgust from Inside Out! Hence her giving Van a look of _disgust_. c; And the blonde boy and freckles is Rancis.**  
 ***** , like Gene from the penthouse. Pretty obvious why he's such a crappy teacher tbh, after seeing how he treated Ralph.**  
 ******In modern verses, I like to think that Vanellope's real name is Penelope, but she never liked it so she just tells people her name is Vanellope; Vanilla and Penelope mixed together.**

 **Aaaaand that's it! Sorry that it's OOC, and I know, it's a bad place to stop, but this way I can either keep it ended there, or if you guys want, I can continue it!**

 **Thanks for the request, anon! I hope you liked it!**


	15. Author's Note

**A/N:** Hey guys! Sooo, I'm going through a bit of a art and writing block right now, which is why I haven't been updating. That being said, feel free to send me art and writing requests by reviewing or PMing me!

Sorry for the lack of updates. Vaniro doesn't seem to be popular anymore but I'm still into it so honestly feel free to message me anytime screaming about Vaniro


	16. That's Why I'm Here

**A/N: Hey anyone who's reading this (which is probably very few, seeing how little the Vaniro community is now, unfortunately)! Like I stated in the previous chapter/author's note, I'm in a pretty big slump right now. I have little to no ideas for drawing and writing, and that's really disappointing, because I love to do both. I've also really been wanting to do stuff with Vaniro lately, but like I said, no ideas.**

 **Thankfully, I got a request from _totalanimationfreak_ on tumblr! Their request was:**

 _"You asked for a vaniro fanfic request and of course I have to say something (not matter how late it is) so uh... idea: Vanellope, with PTSD, and Hiro, with diagnosed depression, go to the same therapy sessions (the fact that that just popped out of my mind shows how morbid I am)."_

 **Thanks so much for the request and sorry it took so long! This may be a little short since I haven't written anything other than schoolwork in a while, but hey, it's better than nothing!**

 **If you guys want, request more Vaniro stuff in the comments/reviews, PM, or at tumblr; my url is _fiqhtsonq . tumblr . com._**

 **I don't own any characters.**

* * *

Hiro is alone in the waiting room, stuck with nothing but his thoughts. He sinks down further in his seat and crosses his arms across his chest.

He doesn't want to be here. He doesn't _need_ to be here. This is stupid. Why does he have to be here? He's fine. His brother died, what, four, five years ago? He's definitely fine by now. He doesn't need to go to freaking _therapy_. Therapy is for crazy people, for people who need some serious help.* Hiro is not one of those people.

Hiro hears a door opening and closing, breaking him from his inner thoughts. He hears footsteps inching closer and closer, starting off light but getting slightly heavier as they grow closer. Finally, Hiro can see a figure in the doorway from the corner of his eye, and he looks up to see who it is.

A girl walks through the doorway, one who seems about his age (sixteen, maybe even seventeen), with hair as dark jet black and frizzy as his own. A green hoodie conceals the purple shirt underneath and contrasts her ripped, blue jeans. They have stuff written and doodled all over them, though, in permanent marker, it seems. She has bright, hazel eyes, in contrast to his standard brown ones. - Not that it matters either way, though. That's all he can get from a brief glance. He looks away, not wanting it to seem like he's staring or something.

She sits on the surprisingly comfortable looking chair diagonally from him. She slumps in the chair and crosses her arms, much like he, himself is sitting. Hiro absentmindedly adjusts himself so that he's sitting straighter and averts his gaze back to the floor.

Silence greets them, followed by awkwardness.

Hiro is no longer sitting alone in the waiting room.

* * *

Penelope "Vanellope" von Schweetz is pissed. Furious, even.

She doesn't _need_ therapy anymore. The last time that she went was when she was fourteen years old.

She had seen her parents die at the young age of only nine years old. She'd been sent to therapy after that, as well as a foster home. Then, after being adopted and years of treatment. she had been well enough to go without therapy at the age of fourteen.

That is, up until this point.

If it was up to her, she wouldn't be here right now. But due to her recent relapses and episodes**, she's been told by her foster father, Ralph, to at least give it another try. Despite their close relationship, he understands that her birth parents and their death will always be a part of her. - Which is exactly why he's sending her back. Because he cares.

Vanellope knows that very well, but it doesn't change the fact that she doesn't want to be here.

Vanellope looks up at the other teenager in the room. From the looks of it, the guy seems like he doesn't want to be here almost as much as herself. He's looking down at the floor, so his face is nearly entirely covered by is wild mop of black hair. He's wearing a blue sweatshirt and khakis. Nerd.

The silence is too much to bare. Vanellope hates silence. She should try to break it.

"Hey."

Hiro looks up at the sound of a slightly scratchy and high-pitched voice. Was she... talking to him? He looks up, eyebrows raised.

"Uh..." he darts his eyes side to side, then to her. "...Are you talking to me?"

Vanellope cocks an eyebrow. "No, I'm talking to that empty chair next to you. Hello, sir, how are you today? You look fantastic."

Hiro almost looks offended at the snarky remark from this total stranger. He almost defends himself with a 'Well how was I supposed to know you were talking to me?', before remembering that they are the only two people in the room. He kind of walked into that one.

"Whatever." he replies harshly. Yes, he could have spoken in a kinder tone, but he's just not in the mood for small talk right now. "What did you want?"

She shrugs and tilts her head to the side. "I dunno. Just thought I'd break the silence." She's always been the outgoing type. Anyone who knows her most likely met her by her starting up a random conversation with them.

"Look," Hiro sighs. "I appreciate the gesture, but I'm not in the mood to talk right now, alright?"

"Well you're just a ray of sunshine, arn't'chya?"

More footsteps are heard and a new person enters the room. "Hiro Hamada?"

 _Great._ Hiro thinks sarcastically. _Better just get this over with._

"That's me." he says and stands up.

* * *

A week later, Vanellope finds herself sitting alone in the same waiting room. For once, she's thankful that she's alone in there. Of course, last time she was here her therapist suggested she come back regularly, much to her dismay. Now she just feels like she's in the same spot she was back when she was nine and traumatized. Right back at square one.

She hears someone come into the waiting room. Frankly, she's too busy focusing on her thoughts to look and see who it is.

...

"...You still up for small talk?"

Vanellope nearly jumps at the sudden voice. Looking up, she sees that it's the same guy from last week, the one that 'wasn't in the mood to talk'.

She smirks. "Gee, I dunno. I appreciate the gesture, but I'm not sure if I'm in the mood to talk." she quotes.

He looks unimpressed as he leans back in his chair.

She smirks. "Name's Vanellope. Why're you here?"

"I'm Hiro. And, uh... because I have an appointment?"

Ah. So Vanellope isn't the only snarky one here.

"Doi. I mean, _why_ do you have an appointment?"

"We just met and you're getting right down to the personal stuff, huh?"

She nods.

"Penelope?"

Both teens look up to see a fairly short woman in a purple dress. She has brown hair pulled back neatly into a bun.

"Hey, ah," Vanellope stands up and slightly cringes. "I thought I told ya last time, but I go by Vanellope."

She turns back and gives a two-fingered salute to Hiro. "See ya, sunshine!"

* * *

With their luck, they came across each other in the waiting room before almost all of their appointments. The whole 'small talk' thing seemed to stick. Usually it was pretty lighthearted, but after a few weeks, they had a conversation that was a bit less lighthearted.

"Y'know, I never answered your question." Hiro says.

"Er, what question?"

"The whole, 'why am I here?' or whatever?"

"That sounds like a question for your therapist, dude. Can't help ya there."

Hiro rolls his eyes. "I'm talking about the question you asked me the first time we meant, weirdo."

"I know, I know." she smirks.

Silence.

"Weeeeell?"

"What?"

Vanellope throws her hands up exasperatedly. "Well, answer the question! Why're you here?"

Hiro shakes his head slightly. He rests an arm on the arm of the chair he's sitting in, resting his hand on his fist. "Well, my big brother, he um..." he takes a deep breath. "he died back when I was fourteen. And, my aunt thinks it's made me depressed over the years so." he looks at her quickly, then back down at the floor. "That's why I'm here."

The room goes quiet. As quiet as it was the first time they met.

"I have PTSD." Vanellope finally says. "My parents died when I was nine. I actually went to therapy after that, but stopped when I was fourteen. I thought that I was better, but, uh, it's been kinda bad lately. So..." she looks at him and shrugs. "That's why I'm here."

Silence, yet again.

"Y'know," Hiro starts. "my aunt owns a cafe. Maybe you could come down there sometime? Tea is pretty calming, and she makes some pretty good tea. Seems like we both need it."

Vanellope smiles. "Yeah. I've actually never had tea before. But there's a first for everything, right?"

"Yeah. Here, gimme your phone. I'll put my number in there and text you the address."

She does so, and in turn he gives her his phone for her to put in her own number.

"Hiro?"

Hiro looks up from the phone to see his therapist sanding in the doorway. He gives Vanellope her phone back and stands up, walking towards the doorway.

He looks over his shoulder, giving a two-finger salute to Vanellope. "See ya, sunshine."


	17. There Are No Words

**A/N: Okay this is pretty short but I was originally gonna draw something for this but it didn't work so whoop here it is**

 **They're 13 and 14 in this, since Hiro was 14 when this happened in the movie. I guess that this is also a continuation of other one shots in this story where Van helps with the BH6 team? kind of?**

 **This was very emotional and difficult for me to write. It's not just based on the movie, but also on my own father's death. How it feels, what happens at the funeral, stuff like that. It's still pretty new so this is also kind of a vent for me, I guess.**

* * *

There are no words. Only feelings. Disbelief. Anger. Despair. Hopelessness.

And that's just how Vanellope feels. She can't even imagine how Hiro feels. How Cass feels. He was like family to her, all three of them were; but he was _actually_ family to them. A brother. A nephew.

And now he's gone.

Everyone was having fun, celebrating Hiro's accomplishment. They were going to eat at the cafe, which only made things better (after all, nothing is better than free food).

Hiro and Tadashi just _had_ to stay behind. They couldn't just join Vanellope and others to the cafe.

Suddenly, alarms could be heard. Several sirens and loud noises, accompanied by the air above slowly becoming dark and heavy. They all turn around at the source of the smoke and panic.

They see Hiro screaming, yelling for his brother, voice filled with pain, desperate. It looks like he, himself, is ready to run into the fire.

She has to hold him back.

* * *

The rest of the night is all but a blur. A blur of more smoke, more sirens, tears, and more tears. Confusion, anger, regret, and more emotion looms about everyone.

Sitting here in the funeral home, hearing someone talk about Tadashi and his short lived life is merely a reminder that this is not a dream, that he's really gone. Yet, everyone wants to believe it's a dream. Their brains know that he's dead, but their hearts hope and cling onto the thought that _he can't be dead_.

Vanellope looks next to her at Hiro. The fact that him and Cass wanted her to sit up in the front row with them was flattering; only family tended to sit there. On the other side of Cass sits all of Tadashi's closest friends: Wasabi, Honey, Gogo, and Fred. Now she takes a glance behind her, at all the people that knew and loved Tadashi. Seeing almost every single person in the room wearing black instead of colorful, expressive clothing was odd. Everyone looked so sad. The fact that all these people showed up to celebrate the life of Tadashi was the only good thing that was happening; to know that so many people cared was comforting.

Vanellope looks once more at Hiro. He looks down, lips closed tight together, eyebrows stitched close together. His shoulders are stiff, shaking every now and then. Unshed tears glisten in his eyes, a stray, warm tear falling every now and then, only to be wiped away. He's trying _so hard_ not to cry, she can tell. She hesitates for a moment before taking his hand into hers. He looks at her and she greets him with a warm but watery smile. He slowly looks back down.

And he breaks.

His brown eyes squeeze shut and tears leak from them, his mouth contorting into a deep frown and quiet sobs escape from it. She, herself, can't help herself from tearing up. She rests her head on his shoulder and wraps her arms around him, to which he simply leans into. Vanellope uses one of her hands and reaches across him to take hold of Cass' hand. Cass and her exchange a sorrowful look, before Cass wraps her arm around Hiro's shoulder.

Watching Tadashi's casket being carefully placed into the Earth was less emotional; that is, on the outside. On the inside, all those same sorrowful feelings were merely bottled up to let the atmosphere remain silent.

* * *

Everyone is mingling down in the kitchen and the living room. There's a decent amount of people, yet you would think Vanellope would be able to find Hiro. One could spot hia crazy, bushy raven hair from a mile away. She sees Cass and Tadashi's friends in a circle near the staircase, which makes Vanellope wonder if Hiro went upstairs.

Quietly she walks over to the stairs; and there he is. Sitting on the stairs, listening to the bustle of people below them talking about Tadashi.

Vanellope slowly and lightly climbs the stairs and sits next to Hiro. They're quiet. There's nothing to be said.

She rests her head on his shoulder once more.

He takes in the silence, almost expecting it to be broken by her saying, 'I'm sorry'. God, he was so sick of people saying they were sorry.

But she sits there, breathing in the silence with him.

He closes his eyes.

There are no words either of them can say.


	18. Introductions and Confessions

**A/N: This was just a random idea I had, I guess. It's not the best because I've never written Wasabi, Gogo, Honey, or Fred before, but I think it came out pretty decent.**

 **Like usual, they're 17-18 in this chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Hey, Hiro?"

"Yeah?"

"When're you gonna take me to meet your friends?"

Hiro looks away from the television, on which him and his childhood best friend/new girlfriend, Vanellope von Schweetz (weird name, she knows) are playing a video game. It's a common pastime that they enjoy, though the both of them get very competitive.

"My friends?" He questions as Vanellope controls her character in the video game to make an action that causes Hiro's to lose HP.

Hiro quickly looks back at the screen with a sigh of disappointment as he puts his focus back on the game.

"Yeah, the friends that you surprisingly have." Vanellope jokes. "Y'know, the ones that you went to SFIT with? The ones that you hang out with whenever you're not with me?"

"I have other friends, you know." He raises an eyebrow. "But haven't you met them before? There's no way you haven't met them in the, what, _ten years_ that we've known each other?"

Vanellope shrugs. "I mean, I've _seen_ them. But you never properly introduced us."

"Yeah, I did! I did at Tadashi's..." Hiro goes silent for a moment, briefly recalling the day. He clears his throat. "...I introduced you guys at Tadashi's funeral."

The girl looks at him for a second then shakes her head, leaning forwards to see the screen a little bit better. "No. You didn't want to be around people so we stayed in your room. Plus, that was years ago. Face it, Hiro. You've gotta introduce us." she pauses. "...Unless you're too _ashamed_ or _embarrassed_ of me being your girlfriend to do that."

Hiro's eyes widen and he doesn't even bother pausing the game before turning to face her, hands up in defense.

"No no no, that's not what I mean at all! I, I just thought that you guys had already met and the thought never crossed my mind and I haven't seen them in a little while and they-"

Vanellope laughs and nudges his stomach, all whilst still playing the game. "I'm just kidding, dude! Calm down!"

Hiro just smirks and sighs, quickly picking up his controller again. "I should've known. What on Earth was I thinking?" he says sarcastically.

"I dunno, I don't think like a nerd."

"That comment was unnecessary."

"But it's true."

"Dork."

* * *

Vanellope walks confidently down the street to the Lucky Cat Cafe. Sure, she could have driven there, but her Uncle Ralph insisted that 'it's a nice day' and that it 'isn't that far of a walk'. Whatever.

She's wearing blue jeans and combat boots, her infamous signature green sweatshirt tied around her waist and purple t-shirt on. It's foggy today, she notes, but then again, when is it not foggy in San Fransokyo?

Finally, she reaches the cafe. As she opens the door, a little bell signifies her entry. Looking around, she finds Hiro nowhere in sight. _He must be in the back,_ she assumes.

Vanellope walks to the back, tightens her ponytail, and readjusts one of the many colorful hair clips in her hair that smooth out the bumps that appear when she messily throws her hair into a ponytail. Upon pushing open the swinging door to the back (where the pastries are usually made), she doesn't find Hiro. However, she does see Aunt Cass, whipping up what seems so be a frosting or filing of some sort.

"Hey, Aunt Cass." she saunters next to the older woman and leans over the counter. Having known Cass for pretty much her whole life, it just feels right to call her Aunt Cass. She's practically family to Vanellope, anyways. "Whatchya makin'?" Vanellope dips a finger into the sweet treat that was finished being mixed in a bowl.

"Hey, hey, hey, no taste testing." Cass says while shooing Vanellope's hand away. She does it with a smile, though; it's a common thing for Vanellope to do. "This is frosting for the cupcakes in the oven, and I think I made _just enough_ to cover them."

"Well if I can't be your taste tester, then who will?" she smirks. "Is Hiro upstairs?"

"Yup. Oh, and I think he has a surprise for you!"

Vanellope raises an eyebrow. "Really? What is it?"

Cass shrugs. "Guess you'll have to find out." she turns around to get the cupcakes out of the oven.

Vanellope dips her finger in the frosting again while she isn't looking before going upstairs.

* * *

"Hey, Hiro!" Vanellope calls as she heads up the stairs to the living room. "You ready to get your butt kicked again at this rematch? 'Cause I know I aaaaaam!"

She reaches the last step and looks into the living room, expecting to see Hiro playing the video game that they're rematching in today. She half expected him to have played it all night in preparation to beat her today.

Instead, she sees four other people in the room, not including Hiro; two sitting at the island in the kitchen, and three, including Hiro sitting on the couch. That's when it clicks; this is Hiro's surprise for her.

"Van!" Hiro stands up and walks over her her, giving her a hug. Vanellope has never been the type to openly kiss or show heavy PDA with someone else whilst in public (seriously, who just makes out with their boyfriend or girlfriend in public? Vanellope thinks that's just plain disgusting). But a hug or holding hands? She's become used to that.

Hiro keeps an arm around her shoulder. "You said you wanted to meet my friends, so..." he gestures towards them. "Here you go.

"This is Honey Lemon," Hiro begins, gesturing towards a very tall and oddly mismatchingly yet matchingly dressed (then again, Vanellope dresses pretty much the same way) girl.

"That's Wasabi," he gestures to the broad guy beside her, with a content look on his face. He gives a small wave.

"Over there is Gogo," he says, gesturing to the couch. A woman, surprisingly the same height as Vanellope (thank God Vanellope isn't the shortest person anymore). "And next to her is Fred."

Vanellope raises an eyebrow. "Wait, wait. - What kind of names _are_ those?"

"I come up with the nicknames," Fred proudly exclaims, yet he has a very relaxed look on his face.

Hiro shakes is head fondly. "Guys, this is my frie- _girlfriend_ , Vanellope." he's still not used to calling her his girlfriend; it's almost to good to be true.

Fred speaks up again, quoting Vanellope. "Uh, what kind of name is _that?_ Guess we don't have to come up with a nickname for you."

"Touche."

"Oh my gosh!" Honey Lemon exclaims excitedly. Said girl's face immediately lights up, even brighter than it already was, and she somehow manages to easily rush over to Vanellope, whilst wearing pretty tall heels, without even stumbling. How she does that, Vanellope doesn't understand. Why she even wears high heels when she's already impressively tall, Vanellope doesn't understand either. She proceeds to give Vanellope a quick yet very strong hug. " _You're_ Vanellope?! Hiro's told us _so much_ about you!"

Vanellope awkwardly smiles as she's released from the hug. "Yup, that's me." her content look is suddenly replaced with one of slight surprise. "Wait, he has?"

"Ah, we, uh," Hiro begins, "we really don't have to mention that-"

Gogo smirks. "Don't be so modest, Hiro, we should _totally_ mention that."

"You talk about her enough." Wasabi comments and takes a sip of his drink.

"All good things, though!" Fred tells Vanellope.

"Oh, _amazing_ things!" Honey gushes, recalling some of the things he's told them in the past.

"Yeah," Fred speaks again, "like how he loves hanging out with you, how amazing you are, how he thinks you guys could have a future together, h-"

"Fred!" Hiro exclaims with distress. "Are you _kidding me?!_ "

"What? It's what you said."

"But that- I- She- Augh!" He face palms, cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

Vanellope turns to Hiro, eyes wide with shock. "Did…" she looks at the others. "Sorry, just give us a sec." the girl pulls him to the side and speaks quieter. "Did you really say that?"

"No, I - I mean, yeah, I did, but - look, you weren't supposed to hear that because I know how you're not a fan of sappy stuff like that and it would probably freak you out-"

"Shut up, you nerd." She smiles her big, dorky smile and playfully punches his arm. "I've known you too long to run away now. And, besides..." She looks down, very much not wanting to say this out loud, but it's the truth. "I... I can see us having a future together, too."

The fact that she never really talks about her feelings, especially heartfelt and sappy ones, only makes it all the more genuine.

"Then... You wouldn't be upset if I finally told you... That I love you?"

Her heart skips a beat, as she was not prepared for him to say that. Yet, at the same time, she is so glad that he did.

"Nah. That be sort of hypocritical if I got upset and then told you that I love you too."

Hiro smiles. He can't help but grab her waist and pull her in for a kiss-

"Oh my gosh!" Cue the flash of a phone camera. "That was the cutest thing I've _ever seen!_ "

Gogo merely scoffs. "Get a room, guys."

They suddenly pull apart, both having completely forgotten that there are other people in the room.

"Sorry, we, uh," Hiro coughs.

"Enough lovey dovey stuff," Vanellope interrupts, trying to avoid conversation about what had just happened. "Who's ready to play some video games?!"

* * *

Vanellope feels her phone vibrate in her pocket. Thankfully, it isn't her turn to play the video game. She pulls out her phone and reads the text message she'd received.

"Shoot!" She mumbles to no one in particular and stands up. "I was supposed to be home a half an hour ago. - I gotta go." She turns around to the group; Hiro, Honey, Wasabi, Gogo, Fred; all of which she's gotten along with really well throughout the night. "Glad to finally see you guys!"

A chorus of farewells respond. She looks at Hiro.

"Come walk me out."

A new chorus of, "Ooooooh!"'s fill the room

"Shut up!" they both say before walking down the stairs.

Once at the door, Hiro faces Vanellope.

"I'm really glad that you finally introduced me to your friends, Hiro. They're all really cool. I'm glad that you somehow found such great people to hang out with when we're not hanging out." she jokes and puts her arms on his shoulders, lacing her fingers around his neck. She's gotten used to acting so intimate with someone else not in public. She hadn't been used to such lovey dovey behavior until they become a couple. She feels comfortable with him; it just seems right.

"Haha, very funny, Van." Hiro rolls his eyes and places his arms around her waist, pulling her closer. "But I'm glad you like them. We'll have to hang out with them again like this soon."

"Definitely. Oh, and since we were interrupted earlier..." She tilts her head up and pulls him down for a kiss. They pull apart after a few moments and Vanellope smiles.

"Y'know, I never thought that I'd be doing all this... Gross lovey dovey stuff with someone, but... Then I started dating you." She smiles. "And I'm glad that we could have a future together. Even though you're a complete nerd." She lets out a small laugh. "But that's part of the reason I love you so much."

Hiro smiles his big, dorky smile, tooth gap and all. He looks at her, complete love and admiration in his eyes. God, he loves this girl. He pulls her in for another kiss.

"I'm glad you sacrificed your stone cold act to love a guy like me." He chuckles once they pull apart, earning him a light hit on the head.

Vanellope feels her phone buzz in her pocket again and she lets out a soft sigh. "I should really get going. Text me tomorrow, 'kay?"

"Okay. But text me first when you get home so that I know you're safe." He says as they pull apart and Vanellope opens the door. "I... I love you."

She steps outside and smiles. "Love you, too." She gives a small wave and closes the door.

Hiro grins and lets out a happy sigh. Stuffing his hands in his jean pockets, Hiro heads back upstairs to the living room where his friends are waiting. It's silent for a moment, before Gogo speaks up.

"Geez, who knew that you were such a sap, lover boy."

"Shut up."


	19. New Author's Note

**A/N:** Hey there! Long time no talk! It seems I took an extremely unexpected hiatus! However, I haven't forgotten about this story! I've gotten some favorite/follow notifications for this story recently and I thought, hey, let's read my oneshots again and see how cringey they are. But honestly, I really enjoyed reading my own writing for once, which I was really surprised at. In favt, it inspired me to come back and write some more oneshots! Life is insanely busy with work and school and art and such; but rereading this story made me miss writing Vaniro so much! I really want to get back into it! However, I'm drained on ideas. Please, leave a review with any ideas/requests you have!

Vaniro is pretty dead right now, I know, but I'm sure there's still some of you out there! Plus, with BH6: The Series and WiR2 coming out very soon, maybe it'll come back!

 **tl;dr: I'm back and I really wanna write some more Vanio stuff in my free time but have no ideas, so please leave a review with an idea/request that you have!**


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